


Nothing Will Keep Us Apart

by asdfgetouttahere



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Badass Hongjoong, Badass Jongho, Badass Mingi, Badass San, Badass Seonghwa, Badass Wooyoung, Badass Yeosang, Badass Yunho, Badass female character, Blood and Injury, Bullying, Character Death, Childhood Trauma, Crime Fighting, Dark, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gang Violence, Guns, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Murder, Mystery, Past Child Abuse, Platonic Relationships, Plot Twists, Psychological Drama, Psychopath, Sad Backstory, Serial Killers, Superpowers, Suspense, Thriller, Tragedy/Comedy, Weapons, hongjoong is hot when he fights, just kidding they're all hot when they're fighting, mafia, they're really close friends hun, we got a doctor yeosang ladies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25647808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asdfgetouttahere/pseuds/asdfgetouttahere
Summary: Serial killers. Mafia massacres. Infiltration missions that go awry.For these bunch, it's hanging on to the moments they're able to smile together, laugh together, be a family together. Even if they have to take it one day at a time.But trouble arises when San's infiltration mission goes wrong, Yeosang gets a visit from the past and Seonghwa digs too close to the truth. To makes matters worse, a man in a fedora hat seems to be taking gangs out one by one.Hongjoong tries his best to keep his members together, even if he has to enlist the help of a mysterious friend.Either way, he won't lose them a second time.
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. A Mysterious Saviour

**Author's Note:**

> okokok. PHEW. 
> 
> This is my first time posting my work on here so please be gentle :S
> 
> Just a little warning, please be mindful of the tags as I update because we'll be touching on some dark themes here and I wouldn't want to trigger anyone so please take note okkk.
> 
> As I'm still in the process of writing, I'm not sure how many chapters it'll be. Also, I appreciate feedback so please let me know what you think along the way!!
> 
> Other than that, enjoy reading!!
> 
> STREAM INCEPTION!! OUR KINGS DESERVE A WIN!!

It smells. The air is pungent with the fumes of carcasses San could only hope came from dead rats. He’s gripping tightly at the gaping hole on the right side of his lower abdomen, adamant in not letting any more blood from spilling out. It’s pitched dark in the base where he was, with the only source of light emitting from the opening above him. It was well within his reach but it also demanded some core strength San wasn’t sure he had right now. His body grew heavier by the second and he was battling the desire to give up more than the gruelling pain he was in. Still, he needed to take his chances. He gathered all he had and leaped for the opening, lifting himself up while adjusting to the painful sensations traumatising his body.

Just as the distant sound of boots splashing in puddles bounced off the walls, San had hit the ground running again. He needed a place to hide. He had to ignore the pain threatening to give way as he climbs through the nearest opened window, hitting the ground with a thud. He lets himself take a moment to breathe as he bleeds out on the floor. His vision was blurry and he had no idea where he’d put himself in, but he needed to call Wooyoung. He was going to die. Still struggling to catch his breath, his eyes began to focus on a figure towering over him. San was about to give up right then. This is where he would die, bleeding out on a stranger's floor.

“I don’t know you or what happened to you, but don’t you _dare_ die in my bedroom,” the voice spoke.

San was still fighting his disoriented state as he felt a cloth replace the hand he used to guard his wound. He was being propped up slowly against a wall as a hand brought some pills to his lips.

“Take it. It’ll help with the pain.”

He knew better than to accept candy from strangers, let alone pills, but San was too exhausted to fight the relief this person was offering him. He had to trust them with his life now.

After downing the pills and some water, the aching pain was beginning to let up a little. San could feel his heartbeat stabilise and he wasn’t fighting for his breath anymore. Though his eyes were heavy, he forced himself to face the person in front of him, who’d currently been digging through a first aid kit. Mid-length hair with an oval-shaped face and a figure so petite, he gathered the person had features resembling a woman.

“I’m going to have to stitch you up, okay? Now, I’m not an expert, so here’s a plushie to bite on so you can scream into that,” she says as she holds up a dog-like toy in front of him. When he doesn’t bite, her eyes narrows. “ Don’t act so tough. I have shaky hands. I _will_ hurt you. You’re _going_ to cry.”

This made him readily accept the toy to his mouth. San braces for the pain, feeling the cold needle against his skin, when the girl stops. Popping one eye open to see if she’d done something wrong, he noticed the girl looking towards her door.

“Hold on, someone’s here,” she says as she puts down the needle and gets up cautiously.

 _Huh?_ San was confused. He hadn’t heard anything, minus the adrenaline rushing through his ears. He was about to question the girl when loud banging shook the door, making the two jump. _Did they find him already?_ San had to think hard about what he had to do next. In his state, he doesn’t believe he’d last a fight, but before he could do anything, he felt a blanket covering him softly and the sound of furniture moving in quick steps. The creak of the door widened his eyes. In a neighbourhood as close to the mafia’s base as possible, the girl had just opened the door _to a stranger._ Did she just move into the neighbourhood? In the pitch darkness, he could only hold his breath to hear what would happen next.

“Is there a problem, officer?” he recognised the girl speak. There was the sound of a harsh shove and San could hear the girl stumble a little. He feels like a child as he tries to make himself smaller to avoid getting caught. “Woah, woah. Barging into a woman’s house in the wee hours of the morning? What are you, a criminal?”

San doesn’t know where this lady’s getting her confidence from, but she sure is brave to try. The Red Dragon mafia group had settled their home base in this neighbourhood and ever since they arrived, they were ruthless in their control. Their blood money came from drugs that circulated the area like a disease. It’s no surprise that the group grew large in members so quickly that there wasn’t a corner in the street you wouldn’t spot one with a dragon tattoo. Their leader, Sungcheol, is a bastard in plain suit. If you crossed him, you’d be dead by morning.

His presence in the neighbourhood didn’t sit well with San’s group’s leader, Hongjoong. The group had to find out the threat they were dealing with before things got worse, so reluctantly, he decided to send the best out of them on the mission to infiltrate their base.

Hongjoong knew the risks involved, and San trusted their leader, so he agreed, though they were going to have a chat after this. “Where is he?” a deep, rough voice snaps San back to reality. The tension is thick as he hears heavy boots walking towards his direction.

“I’m not sure if you’re familiar with the neighbourhood, but around here,” he hears the click of a gun, “you barge into a lady’s house you’d _better_ be prepared to face the consequences.”

Blood rushed through his veins as San hears the movement of the gun in the hands of the person he had decided put his life into. He couldn’t help but wonder if he should be afraid of the man on his tail, or fear the woman he’d jumped into the house of.

There was a thick silence that followed before the sound of the boots retreating away from him. “Just who the _hell_ do you think you are?”

“A woman, _bitch!"_

The doors slams shut and San’s stunned in his place. What in the _hell_ did he just witness? Before he realised it, the furniture sandwiching him to the wall gave way and the blanket shielding him was lifted. He’s left to face the person who’d just _slammed_ the door to the face of a member of the neighbourhood’s _worst mafia group_.

“It’s fake,” the girl says as she sets down the gun she’d been brandishing to work on San’s wounds again. “But they don’t know that.”

San stares at her in disbelief while the dog toy gets shoved back into his mouth. The pain he’d been enduring, momentarily forgotten during the exchange, washed over him once again aggravatingly. Yet, he’d only had one question in mind.

_Who is this girl?_

* * *

“Wooyoung, stop pacing. You’re making _me_ nervous.”

With tension thicker than blood, the anxiety was pressuring down Wooyoung’s shoulders like a tonne of bricks. _He should be back by now_ , he thought. The plan they agreed on promised San to be back in their home in three hours since his departure, but it’s been nearly _seven hours_ and yet, no sign of his nimble-bodied best friend anywhere. His body itched for movement and so, he’d started pacing to calm his nerves.

Seonghwa was in the living room with him. The others had gone to bed thinking they’d wake up and San would be here like always. But Wooyoung wasn’t going to bed until he knew his best friend was safe.

Knowing how sensitive Wooyoung got when it came to San, Seonghwa watches the worry etched on his face. He knew Wooyoung had abandonment issues, so the anxiety of not knowing if San was alive goes without reason. He’d promise San he’d watch over Wooyoung, who knew would worry to death over him. As much as he admired the close relationship the two had with each other, Seonghwa worries if it’d end up suffocating them one day.

“San’s going to be alright, you know that,” he offered, knowing his words would do little to calm Wooyoung’s nerves. This seemed to stir up something in him as his eyes darted to meet his and Seonghwa could see the bloodshot redness he hadn’t noticed until then.

“Except, we _don’t_. I don’t see why you, or _any of you_ , are not as worried as me. San could be _dying_ for all we know, but here we are keeping sheltered in this _fucking_ house!”

Wooyoung was self-destructing. He needed a distraction. He needed to _do something_. He couldn’t stay here while San was at risk of being dead. Just then, the door opens and his heart momentarily jumps in hopes of seeing his friend. But it had been their leader who’d stepped into the room and Wooyoung was seeing red.

Without a moments notice, Hongjoong was shoved roughly against the wall, breath knocked out of him. He could hear Seonghwa shouting his name but he couldn’t think straight right now. He could only focus his eyes on his leader, who decided to send San on this mission in the first place. Hongjoong was not much shorter than he was, but Wooyoung’s death grip around his neck had him searching for air.

“You said he’d be back in three hours. It’s been seven _fucking_ hours, hyung. Where the _fuck_ is he?”

“Wooyoung, let him go! What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You’re killing him!”

He doesn’t budge and Hongjoong’s running out of oxygen.

“Fuck, don’t you trust our leader? You know he’d never knowingly put any of us on a death mission. He’s always done the best for us, so don’t you trust him to do just that?” Seonghwa hadn’t had much time. He knows Wooyoung isn’t in his right mind, he just needs to pull him back to reality. “Well, even if you don’t trust him, don’t you trust San?”

Hearing that, Wooyoung’s grip begins to soften. “Hongjoong put San on this mission because he knows and you know that San’s the best one of us with the skill set to pull off a dangerous mission like this. Hongjoong’s timeline might not be as accurate as we thought, but we know San well enough to believe he can pull this off.”

Wooyoung’s grip finally slackens as Hongjoong hits the ground gasping for air. A sudden wave of guilt overcomes him as he hears him coughing in between breaths.

“I’m gonna catch my breath,” he sounds, refusing to meet any of his hyung’s eyes, before heading out and slamming the door behind him.

“Let him go,” Hongjoong tries to speak up, just as Seonghwa turned heels to go after him. “He needs space right now.”

Outside, Wooyoung is desperate to shut down his anxiety. He knew he went out of line with _choking his hyung_ like that. He would need massive balls to face and apologise to both of his hyungs later. But right now, he needed to do something, anything that could help him find his best friend.

Even if it meant walking straight into the Red Dragons den.


	2. New Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> San returns to the base, where he is met with some worrying news.

“You can sense people?” San stares in disbelief. “Like superpower kind of _sense people?”_

Suyeon sets down the bowl of _samgyetang_ between them, scooping a bowl for both. “More like I can sense bad aura. And It’s definitely _not_ a superpower. I wish I knew why I do, but I do.”

San watches the girl who saved him last night, and might possibly be San’s new favourite idol, in amazement. “I have _so_ many questions.”

“Well..”

“Sannie,” he replies, smiling. “Choi San.”

“Choi Sannie, don’t you think I deserve an explanation as to _why_ I was woken up in the middle of the night to a man bleeding to death on my floor?”

He nearly chokes on his soup. He’d completely forgotten how he’d trespassed her house nearly half to death, too busy replaying the exchange between her and the mafia member in his mind. He had so many questions, but he _did_ owe her an explanation first.

“Couple of dudes came after me when I tried leaving their base during an infiltration mission. Are you familiar with the Red Dragons? Yeah, well, they were MAD mad when they found me in their planning room. I’d only managed to skedaddle out of there with one nick, but I hadn’t realised it was a _deep_ nick. So, there I was, bleeding out on the streets when I saw your window opened, which, by the way, I wouldn’t recommend leaving open at night in case-“

“In case of guys like you jumping through my window?”

“Exactly. Anyways, I hopped in, thinking I could take a breather before the long, hard trip back home, but there you were, like a knight in shining armour, coming to my rescue.”

“Charmed, I’m sure.”

San could only flash a childish smile before slurping the last of his soup before asking for another bowl. 

“For someone who met death yesterday I didn’t think you’d be up on your feet so readily,” she says, pouring him another bowl.

“Well, I’m alive. I owe Wooyoung that much. He’d die if he knew I died,” he says, scarfing down the bowl just in between his sentences. “You should meet him. He’d go crazy if he knew how badass you were last night. God, I can’t wait to tell him. By the way, how’d you do that? Scaring off a member of the Red Dragon is on a level beyond crazy.”

Suyeon watches as he downs the rest of her meal for the next three days. Yesterday, she saved this man fighting for his life. Today, he’s eating the meal she’d been saving for the weekend all in one sitting. “You pick up a few things growing up around here.”

* * *

The afternoon sun was blaring down their necks. Summer time in this area usually forced everyone indoors, so San and Suyeon looked like out of their minds to be standing outside right now. Suyeon knew she had to get San to leave eventually, but she wasn’t cruel enough to let him struggle under the hot sun alone while still battling the pain from the wound that was only dulled by pills. Even though she’d swore she’d never help a member of a mafia, here she was _sending_ one back to his home base. 

“Are you coming in?” Suyeon turns to meet San’s hopeful eyes. _How badly did he want her to meet this Wooyoung?_ She shakes her head. “You go ahead. I’m afraid your Prince Charming has to leave now.” He pouts, making her chuckle. She concluded that San was just one of a kind. 

Just as she turned her heel to leave, Suyeon felt her body set ablaze, and _not_ due to the heat of the sun. She rubs her arms in an attempt to cool the heat, even though it never worked. She turns back just in time to see San’s body disappearing into the warehouse, grabbing one of his wrist. Stunned, San looks from his wrist to Suyeon’s wary eyes.

“There are people watching us. Many of them.”

San looked around, yet there wasn’t a single person in sight. He was about to ask if Suyeon was alright when he remembered about how she knew about the mafia member outside her door yesterday night. Immediately, he yanks her into the warehouse with him and shuts it.

“San-ah!” a raspberry-haired boy cries in surprise. Mingi’s joyfully cry brought the room’s attention on the two. The smile on Mingi’s face dropped when his eyes trailed to the girl who’d been clinging onto San when the came in. “San-ah!” He cried once more, only this time in an accusatory tone.

“We’d been worried all day thinking you’d been kidnapped but you’ve been _shagging_ a girl?”

San and Suyeon’s eyes widened at that. Both disgusted at the mere thought. Suyeon clears her thought as she steps from behind San to meet the six pair of eyes watching her. “Watch your words, Redhead. Your friend here barged into _my_ house. I’m simply bringing him back to you. No _shagging_ was involved, thank you very much.”

Seonghwa stepped out from where he was sitting to approach them. “What happened?”

“Who is she?” Yunho chimes in.

“Well,” thinking of where to begin, San retold them his account of what happened on his mission, to stumbling into Suyeon’s home, to witnessing the badassery that is Suyeon, to this morning.

“That’s a lot to take in,” Hongjoong speaks up in the silence after San’s explanation. He takes slow strides towards San and cups his shoulder. “San-ah, I’m sorry I’m put you through all this. I should’ve known it was too dangerous.”

San removes the Hongjoong’s hand from his shoulder, not used to seeing this side of his leader before. Shaking his head, San smiles, “It’s aight. I got to meet Suyeon noona. She’s amazing, really. Wooyoung _has_ to meet her while she’s still here. Where is he anyway?”

The group exchange looks as San waits for an answer. “We thought he’d be back with you. He went after you when you didn’t come back,” Jongho explains, his words laced with increasing fear. 

San darts his eyes to Seonghwa. “Hyung, you promised-“

“I told him to go,” Hongjoong cuts in. Everyone looks at him, obviously hearing this for the first time too. Seonghwa shoots him a look, knowing full well he did _not_ ask Wooyoung to _go_. “He couldn’t keep himself in place so I told him to go after you.”

San stares hard at the ground, thinking of the possibilities of Wooyoung’s actions right now. If he knew his best friend well enough, he’d know that Wooyoung would’ve gone in blindly, attacking everyone he saw in search of him. He didn’t stand a chance alone. “We have to get him,” he says, meeting the eyes of his leader.

Hongjoong shakes his head, “No, _we_ will go get him. _You_ need to stay here and let Yeosang tend to your wounds. Thank you, Suyeon-ssi, for patching him up, but by the looks of it, those stitches are going to hold if it’s still leaking out blood.”

_“She has shaky hands.”_

“That would explain why there’s people watching you outside,” everyone turns to look at Suyeon. “You’ve got a handful of eyes waiting to report your next moves to their boss outside, by the way.”

“And how would _you_ know that?” the blonde one - Yeosang- in the corner questions unsurely. “Oh it’s simple,” San begins, “noona... wait, yeah, how do you know? Last night, too. How did you know that mafia member was outside your door?”

“How do we know _you’re_ not one of the Red Dragons?”

The members began to stiffen, turning more wary of her unexpected presence. Suyeon’s body starts to burn again as she instinctively rubs them again.

“Don’t be ridiculous, guys. Noona saved my life. Rather than suspect her, you should be _asking her_ for help,” San chastises, easing the tension. “She can sense people from their aura. Something we might need if we’re facing an enemy whose main strategy is sneak attacks.”

The group exchanges look once more with Hongjoong attempting to break the awkward silence. “I’ll help you,” Suyeon says, grabbing their attention. “On one condition. Get me a full time job. You’ve got a likeable reputation around here so it shouldn’t be too hard. So you help me with my dire situation and I’ll help you with yours.”

“Deal.”

* * *

Bruises littered his body. His right foot was bent freakishly out of shape, blowing up into a disgusting maroonish shade. The cold, concrete ground freezes the right side of his cheek. Every breath burns against his throat. Wooyoung _needs_ to move. He _needs_ to find a way out of this dark, cramp room. _He needs to find San._ But his bones feel heavy and he couldn’t lift a finger.

He doesn’t stop the his eyes from falling shut, letting the darkness overcome him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I love Mingi in this.
> 
> Also, what do you all think of Suyeon so far? Let me know in the comments, ya. Although she's mainly a character to keep the story going, she makes me wanna go WHOOP WHOOP.
> 
> And Wooyoung..... :((


	3. Saving Wooyoung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group launches an attack to save Wooyoung, fighting with their lives on the line. Anything to reunite the family again.
> 
> Hongjoong meets the fedora man.

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

“Hey asshole, go get the door.”

The man huffs in annoyance, but heads towards the door anyways. The room held nearly twenty armed-members, none of whom were on watch like they were supposed to.

Just as the metal frame of the door slides open, a harsh shove sent the man flying backwards, bringing the twenty members to their feet.

“WOOYOUNG, WE’RE COMING!!”

The loud battle cry initiated the barrage of attacks against the members of the Red Dragon. Mingi specialised in heavy-handed attacks. His punches resembling the hard-hitting of concrete, one knock and each member was kept down, unable to get back up. Yunho, on the other hand, was quick on his feet. As each member came to charge at him, they had barely been able to touch a _fabric_ on him before they were sent flying to the ground. Individually, the two possessed the strength and power to take down thirty men at a time, Together? They were a force to be reckoned with. The members of Red Dragon were left with no choice but to call in reinforcements from the next room. This being the signal for the other three to proceed.

Dodging amidst crates resting closely to the wall, Hongjoong, Jongho and Suyeon stayed as low as possible, leaving the cavalry to the most powerful duo on the team. According to Hongjoong’s plan, the three of them would make it to the next room, with Jongho creating the next line of distraction. As they sneak past the fleet of the enemies, Suyeon struggles to endure the heat. It had been a while since she was surrounded by an anthem of bad aura. She was _scorching_. She grits her teeth and almost falters for a moment as the two look worriedly at her.

“There’s about… ten people… in the next room…,” she breathes in between words. “We can… We can take them..” Hongjoong nods as he turns his attention back at the door to the next room, signalling them to follow his lead.

Right as they entered the room, the dragon-tattooed men begin charging towards them. Hongjoong takes them on, swiftly grabbing the fist coming towards his face and retaliating with a killer punch of his own. Jongho didn’t hesitate to attack first, forcefully shoving a barrage of blows into the charging men. With Suyeon putting up a fight on her own, the three were holding up well against the enemy, yet the increasingly burning sensation Suyeon had tells her there were more to come.

“Hongjoong-ssi, there’s more than we thought,” she yells, dodging a punch before returning one to the face. “You go ahead. I’m sure your friend’s close by. I sense a great aura not to far from here. I’m sure he’s there with the top dog. Jongho and I will handle this.”

Seeing an onslaught of men coming into the room, Hongjoong knew he had no time for contemplation. He nods as Jongho charges towards the new wave of men, clearing a path for him to go ahead. 

Hongjoong tries to navigate himself in the darkness of an alley. Though he’d been intervened by a few Red Dragon members a couple of times, it was nothing he couldn’t handle. Instead, he was struggling to keep his urge to _kill_ under his skin. He was _not_ losing a brother tonight. Not ever. He lands himself in front of a metal door, locked shut. After ramming his shoulder into the door a few times, the door gave way, revealing an unconscious Wooyoung bounded to a chair.

“Wooyoung-ah! We’re getting you out of here.” Hongjoong wasted no time in working on the tight knot strapping Wooyoung’s hands to the back of the chair. As he attempts unbind the rope, he’s quick to avoid the charging blow to the back of his head, getting back on his feet to face his attacker.

“Park Sungcheol,” he spits the man’s name, like dirt in his mouth. 

“Kim Hongjoong,” the towering, sinister man smiles. “The cavalry has finally arrived.”

Hongjoong takes a swing at his face, but Sungcheol had known to dodge his attacks. His attempts to undercut the taller man drives the two to the wall, allowing the man to flip them over and strike a blow to his face. Hongjoong’s forced to take the oncoming attacks to his body as he buckles to the ground when Sungcheol’s swing strikes him in the stomach. He spits out blood, propping himself on his hands as he catches his breath. Sungcheol laughs, a sound that burns Hongjoong’s ears. He stares at the leader of the deadliest mafia in the neighbourhood as he slowly walks over to the still unconscious Wooyoung.

“You people are too easy,” he laughs, grabbing Wooyoung by the chin. “All brawn, no brains. Your friend here came barging into _my_ home looking for his friend and lands himself where all the idiots who’ve tried taking me on end up.”

Hongjoong’s blood was rushing to his head. Adrenaline ran on high and he feels himself losing to the anger at the sight of Sungcheol’s hold on Wooyoung. 

“Dead. At the palm of my hands.”

Sungcheol clenches a tight fist and swings hard, crashing straight into Wooyoung’s cheek. Hongjoong saw red. He springs off the ground and slams his body against Sungcheol’s, sending them both to the ground. Straddling on top of the man, Hongjoong overpowers him with his newfound strength. He doesn’t let the man a second to breathe as reduces him to a bloody mess. With every contact he makes with Sungcheol’s face, another bone shatters. Only when he’s confident the man couldn’t move a muscle does Hongjoong get off, moving backwards before facing the ropes again. Thick blood drips from his knuckles as he unties the knot and begins loosening the one on Wooyoung’s ankles. The ropes loosens and falls to the ground just as Hongjoong receives a kick to his nape, forcing him to the ground.

Before he could clutch the pain of the impact, Sungcheol grips his neck in a tight hold, constricting his airway. Hongjoong struggles for breath as dark spots blurred his vision. He feels his life slipping away, losing his strength to the lack of oxygen, when the sound of cracking bones kicking the man on top of him enables him access to the air he needs. When his vision finally readjusts as he fights for oxygen back into his system, his eyes widens at the sight of Wooyoung, swaying side-to-side trying to maintain his balance.

“Hyung…..,” Wooyoung whispers, only audible to Hongjoong’s ears. “Thank you…” His knees finally gives way as his body hits the ground, plunging him back into the darkness again.

* * *

The light penetrates the safety of his eyelids, prompting him to blink repeatedly. 

“Guys!! he’s awake!!” The shocking gasp that Wooyoung knew could belong to ever-excited Mingi sends an aching headache as he tries to prop himself up on the bed. He’d felt every tantalising shock to his body, only now, it had been dulled. Yeosang had treated him. He was back home.

Fighting the ache pounding at his brain, Wooyoung readjusts his eyes to get a clearer vision of the figures that circled him. “I knew it,” Wooyoung smiles. “I knew I’d meet you all in hell.” At this, he earns a few eye rolls and slaps to his sides. He looks at his brothers, who’d just been through hell to save him. Their battered states doesn’t go unnoticed as each member, except Yeosang, suffered cuts and bruises to their faces. Wooyoung can’t imagine about the wounds they _were_ hiding. As much as he had felt guilty, his eyes slants in worry as he realised who was missing.

“Where’s San?” 

The members exchange knowing looks before clearing a path to the man he’d been gambling his life for. 

San had been donning a cast for his right arm and cuts to his cheeks, but the smile he’d been hoping to see distracts him from all that. Wooyoung feels a rush of relief at the sight of him as he made his way towards the bed-ridden man. 

“You’re a-“ _flick_.

There was a momentary silence before Yeosang’s unfiltered snort sends the members into fits of laughter. Despite the stinging pain ringing on his forehead, San’s finger-flick sends a shock to his system that washes him in the warmth he’d been missing for a long time.

“You _mega_ idiot. How did you rush in to save me and come out looking worse than _I_ did?” he chides, mustering a poorly-convincing angry face.

“It’s your fault! Why didn’t you come back sooner, _dumbass_?” Wooyoung bites back.

“Asshole, I was dying too!!”

“Die later, then, prick. I _waited_ for you to come back!!”

The two struggled to keep their eyebrows furrowed, before breaking into laughter. San lunges forward, his best friend squashed tightly in his hold. The rest watches warmly before all gathering in for a group hug. 

Not wanting to ruin the atmosphere, Suyeon, who’d been watching from a distance, breaks away from the warm scene and slips out the door. She steps outside, taking in the cool, summer night air. Finally, a moment to breathe from the chaos that unfolded the past few hours. Suyeon couldn’t remember the last time she had such a cinematic adventure like this. She smiles, satisfied that they had a happy ending. 

The spatial emptiness was disrupted as she notices a nest of ocean blue hair settling on the railing next to her. “Not your typical weekend, huh?” the two chuckle at Hongjoong’s comment. “Thank you. For everything. From San to Wooyoung, even making that call that may have just saved Jongho’s life, you did us a tremendous deal.” Suyeon turns to face him as he meets her gaze at the corner of his eyes.

“I don’t get it,” she says, leaning against the railing with her arms folded. “Mafia’s don’t go to extreme lengths to save a member. They don’t flip hell upside down for each other. Yet, you boys have done that twice now. You’re not a mafia, you’re a family.”

Hongjoong smiles longingly. “We grew up together. We’re the only family we have.”

“We met at the same orphanage. The eight of us didn’t have the greatest upbringings. For years, children came and went, but no one ever came for us. The longer we stayed, the more we realised, we didn’t need a set of parents to make us family.” He straightens his posture before leaning back and resting his arms on the railing. “Through those boys, I learnt what is was to become a family. For the first time, I had people I wanted to protect.”

Suyeon melts at his sentiment. Growing up with the lack of parental love and a brother she could only count as family, she understood what he meant.

Then, his smile falters as he turns his gaze to the ground. “Then, Jongho’s parents came for him.”

“After he left, the group began to split apart. Everyone began to find their own paths and one by one, they all left. It was the hardest four years I’d ever had.”

There was a silence that blanketed between them. Only the incessant sound of crickets and the occasional breeze could be heard. Then, at the sound of distant laughter, Hongjoong lights up into a soft smile again.

“But everyone’s back now and that’s all it matters. And this time, I know everyone’s here to stay. I’ll make sure of it.” 

Suyeon, who’d been hanging onto his every word, lightens up at his conviction. She’d hate to see this group apart. In the few hours she had met them, she’d grown to love the unique bunch.

Hongjoong stretches his back as he takes in a deep breath, relieved at the conversation they had.

“So, I guess we owe you that full-time job now, huh?”

* * *

  
The silence in the empty warehouse is deafening. Moonlight illuminated the cold hall where Hongjoong stood, alone. Lately, the itch in his veins pressured him to return to this space. The space he spent four years without his closest brothers. 

Everything was scattered the way it had been when he left. Pages from books besmirched the floor as cold coffee cups and empty cup noodles decorated the table. The area that’d brought him a sense of home all those years ago, now gave him a feeling of unease he couldn’t shake off. He kneels close to the ground, picking up a photograph that had been hidden between some papers.

Then, the feeling he’d been all too familiar with runs through his body like fire. He hears the heavy boots clink against the floor, approaching slowly whilst he gets back up to his feet. Brushing the dust off the photograph, Hongjoong hides his wary smile.

“So, you’re back, huh?” He amuses with caution. The man, who he hadn’t met since he had reunited with his members, finally makes an appearance. This must be the uneasiness that Hongjoong had been entertaining. He slowly turns around to look at the man dressed in the same way he’d always been, cloaked in black with a chained mask and fedora hat obscuring everything but his eyes. “What do you want from me, now?”

The man says nothing, only lifting his arm steadily while pointing towards the table between them, a gesture that brought Hongjoong a sense of deja-vu. He looks towards the direction of his finger, eyes trailing to an antique hourglass that stood out from the lines of litter. He stiffens, watching the grains of sand beginning to fall. _But things have been so peaceful._

Hongjoong whips his head back to the man only to be met with the whisper of his presence. He’s gone. Leaving Hongjoong alone with a sense of anxiety dancing in his veins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAAAY HE SURVIVED!!!
> 
> I'm all for Team WooSan. Their friendship is really one to die for ugh.
> 
> This is one of my favourite chapters. I really enjoyed writing it! I'm new to writing fight scenes so I'm not really sure how I did. I hope it was okay :p 
> 
> NEW MYSTERIES COMING.
> 
> As always, please leave comments if you can! 
> 
> I'm juggling between assignments and writing this story so I'm not really sure of my updating schedule but the next update will definitely come within the next week!!
> 
> Thank you for reading and I'm hoping you'll stay till the end :))) I have so much planned for this story and the actions only just started. This are about to get real. Get ready yalls.


	4. Calm before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yunho reveals his past. Hongjoong and Seonghwa get into a fight. The fedora man makes his move.

_“So, I guess we owe you that full-time job now, huh?”_

Suyeon huffs in annoyance. It was foolish of her to trust a member of a mafia group. She was asking for too much when she thought their reputable name as the group that never stirred trouble in the neighbourhood would land her a well-paid job. It was nothing but a pipeless dream. While making quick wipes on the surface of the cash register, she questions herself on her life decisions of getting involved with those boys. The evening-shift manager of a corner shop convenience store was a job she could have landed _even without_ their help.

_“The country’s going through a recession,” Hongjoong sheepishly smiles. “This is the best job you can get anywhere in this neighbourhood right now! You could make it up the ranks to CEO with this job. Who knows!”_

Suyeon makes a mental note to leave a dead rat in Hongjoong’s jacket pocket the next time she sees him, when the bell at the entrance door rings.

“Welcome-“

“Oh? Suyeon noona?” 

Her head snaps up to see a familiar, tall, mint-haired Yunho. 

* * *

“Ah, so Hongjoong hyung got you the job here, huh?” Yunho asks, taking a large bite of his sandwich. “No wonder he asked me if there was an opening in the store.”

Since the tall man came into the store coincidentally at the time of her break, the two decided to grab a few snacks before settling themselves on the pavement outside. Suyeon looks over to the member scarfing hungrily down his meal. His face was glistened with sweat, bangs plastered to his forehead. He’d abandoned his jacket to the side, airing the heat that radiated from his body. “Yeah. What about you? What are you doing here? You look like you ran a marathon.”

“There’s a dance studio upstairs. Mingi and I go there all the time,” he says in the brief moments he wasn’t _devouring_ his sandwich. “Wooyoung used to come with us but since we reunited as a group, he hasn’t stepped a foot back in there.”

“How is he and San, anyway?” She asks, taking a small bite of her own sandwich.

“They’re back being their idiot selves. If it weren’t for the casts they’re in, it’s easy to forget that they’re still recovering. Yeosang did a good job patching them up, so it’s not surprising that he threatened to break more bones if they continued wrestling each other.” 

Suyeon smiles. She hadn’t had a chance to introduce herself to Wooyoung yet. She figured she’d visit them when she has the chance. Then, it hits her. “Wait, you guys _dance_?”

Yunho seems unbothered by her surprise as he gulps down nearly half his drink bottle. 

“So you’re tall, you can fight _and_ good at dancing?” Still in disbelief, Suyeon shakes her head. “God made you boys a special breed of humans.”

He chuckles while opening a packet of chips. “Well, being tall isn’t all that great. My feet hang out the mattress when I sleep.”

“God is fair.”

He laughs, juggling the chips in his mouth. “Dancing is the only thing I kept with me from our time apart.”

Suyeon recalls the conversation she had with Hongjoong the other night, remembering that they group had split apart for nearly four years. “Hongjoong-ssi told me about that. He was pretty vague about why, though. Just said you all had different paths.”

“Well, after Jongho left, we were kind of lost. His obvious absence made us feel incomplete. So, I guess we all had different ways of filling that gap. Yeosangie was always the smart one, so he got into medical school. Seonghwa hyung started seeing this girl and we saw less of him. Naturally, the others found something they wanted to pursue. For me,” Yunho explains, unwrapping a roll of gimbap before taking a huge bite. “I found my brother.”

“You did what?”

“Yeah,” he pauses, grinning sadly with a distant look in his eyes. “We were separated at the orphanage, but I saw him at an open mic festival and we reconnected.”

After hearing Hongjoong’s side of the story the other night, Suyeon had assumed that they all had lost their families. Was she cruel to have thought so? “Oh, well, how did that go?”

“It was great! His music career was just taking off. He even had me record some tracks for him, too. When he suggested we debuted as a duo together, you couldn’t believe how happy I was to have this second chance with my brother,” Yunho smiles, though the desolated tone in his voice suggests otherwise.

“Then…”

With downcast eyes, Yunho pauses for a moment, his half-eaten gimbap turning cold. “Then, I found out that my brother wasn’t the person he claimed to be.”

“He’d been in debt to the mafia centralising the area. I realised, one night, that he was going to use me to get the money he owed,” he bites his lips before he continues. The images were still fresh in his mind. He remembered the rough fight they had, the way he stormed off without looking back, the sight of his brother’s dead body on the ground of his apartment the next day. “Everything was a blur after that. I wandered around, like a lost lamb, until Hongjoong hyung found me. I came back with him and everyone else was there, too. Since then, I’ve had no plans to leave again.”

Suyeon watches the boy in front of her as he goes back eating his gimbap. She had never realised the scars the members were hiding underneath their carefree personas. Hearing the stories from San, Hongjoong and Yunho merrily confirmed what she came to know - some friends are better families than blood-related ones. She’s glad that these boys have each other now.

“Yunho-ah! Oh, noona?” The two turn their heads to the towering Mingi, who’d come looking like Yunho did when he first arrived. He’d been locking up the studio and had only came downstairs just then.

“Oh, Mingi-ah, Suyeon noona got us food,” Yunho pipes, tossing a roll of gimbap towards Mingi as he settles down next to them. He grins widely before scarfing down on his meal, too. 

There was something about these boys that made Suyeon smile softly, unable to inform them just how thin her wallet was running from constantly feeding the bunch. Instead, she’s contented just watching them stuff their cheeks with the food equivalent to her last pay check. 

In a distance, lurking in a vehicle across the street. The three were being watched. Through the lens of a camera, the sight of the three were captured once. Twice. Then, again. The camera lowers and a man in a mask obscuring his face watches the three before darting his eyes back to an iPad. It was definitely her. The girl who fought alongside the youngest member of the group. The girl who seemed to be able to predict their attacks. 

* * *

The spicy mix of chicken curry swivels in the steaming pot as Wooyoung, waddling from the kitchen to the table in the living room, transfers it to where San and Yeosang were seated. It had been two weeks since they’ve rescued him, three days since he’d been out of his cast, so he’d been itching to cook for his members out of gratitude. Though it had only the three of them who were hungry for dinner then, San insisted on eating first so they had time for some ice cream later.

“Wooyoung-ah, don’t you think you’ve miscalculated?” Yeosang asks, watching the two drop some of the delicacy into their bowls. “This serving is only enough for five people. There’s eight of us.”

“I guess we’ll have to eliminate some members then,” Wooyoung says, unabashedly as he and San meets gazes at the same time. “Seonghwa hyung,” they agree in unison.

Yeosang shakes his head, though his silence was consent. On the other side of the room, Seonghwa buries his head in stacks of papers and maps outlining their neighbourhood. He’d been constantly working on the papers since they came back from the Red Dragon’s base, jotting down everything he remembers from his mission then. 

Whilst the rest of the team went on to save Wooyoung, Hongjoong had told him to carry out a mission of his own. They had to gain the upper hand and find out what the mafia’s plans were. Knowing he could trust the members to fulfil their own tasks, Seonghwa snuck away from the group and infiltrated the enemy’s unguarded board room. What he saw was enough for him to conclude that they _were in trouble_.

Hongjoong joins him at the table, setting a cup of coffee next to him. He’d seen how hard his hyung had been working and had been trying to get him to take a break. Knowing Seonghwa’s stubborn personality, though, that was a lot to ask.

“Hongjoong-ah, if we don’t act fast, the Red Dragons will start expanding their territory. They’re planning to take over the East _and_ the South. We’re right smack in the middle!” He cries, shuffling papers around to reveal the plans. “We need to push back. If they take these territories, the neighbourhood will never be peaceful.”

Although he understands his worries, Hongjoong had done the math. In their last attack on the Red Dragons home base, they’d put almost eighty percent of their army out of commission. Even if they were to expand, they wouldn’t do it now when they’re at their weakest. “Hyung, don’t worry about it now. They won’t attack us when they’re still dealing the repercussions of _our_ attack.”

Seonghwa wasn’t convinced. The Red Dragons were a massive connection of members. Their methods were ruthless and he believed their attack hadn’t damaged their stronghold as much as they would’ve liked. “But Hongjoong, we need to take our stand _while_ they’re still recovering. We need to show them we’re no pushovers.”

“Hyung, we’re not a mafia. We don’t need to do anything. As long as we’re together, we’ll be fine.”

“Why don’t you understand? If we don’t smoke them out now, we may never get the chance to in the future.”

“Hyung, I’d never risks your lives when it’s not necessary!”

“That’s exactly the kind of thinking that’ll get us killed! You’re our leader, act like one!!”

A thick blanket of silence followed Seonghwa’s outburst. Even Wooyoung, San and Yeosang, who’d been indulging in bowls after bowls, froze. Realising the harshness of his words, Seonghwa’s eyes flash an instant regret. 

The four pair of eyes watch Hongjoong as he drops his gaze to the floor, refusing to meet theirs. He nods before shuffling himself slowly out of the compound, the overbearing silence as loud as ever.

* * *

  
There was something about classical music that brought beauty in the crimes they’ve done. The leader of the Chikwang group smirks to himself, cigar lit in his mouth as he flicks between the notes of cash. Another successful night. His men were getting better at extorting money from the neighbourhood that he’d almost felt like throwing a party. 

“Dongchan-ah,” he snaps his fingers, tossing the stack of cash on the growing pile on the table. He leans back in his seat as his right-hand man hurries over to pile the stash into a duffel bag. 

The boss smiles, swaying his head to the music playing in the background, when distant shouts and gun shots resounded in the hall outside. As the screams grew more intense, so did his impatience. He grits his teeth before ordering Dongchan to go and shut the members up.

The man immediately follows orders as he leaves the room, ready to give his juniors a good beating for disrupting the boss’ peace. He turns an alley and was about to cry murder, when the sight that fell before him drowns the anger in him. His blood runs cold as he feels the goosebumps travel down his arms. Sweat pricked his forehead as his eyes ran across the hall.

Every single member was dead.

Bodies laid across the floor and tables, blood soaking the ground in round puddles. The lifeless members urged Dongchan to inform his boss on the sudden attack, almost tripping as he tries to run back.

“Hyung-nim! We’ve-“ Dongchan’s shout strangled by his gasp as he falls to the ground. His eyes widens at scene of his boss, who’d been merely alive and well moments ago, now a bloody mess _pinned_ to the wall with several knives. His boss, staked to the wall like Jesus on a cross, lined within a circle of his own blood and the big gaping number, _four_ , glared back at him.

The classical music grows static to his ears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HongHwa's fight is :((((
> 
> I promise things get better for them. Seonghwa is just deeply concerned but Hongjoong doesn't want him to worry so much okk gosh.
> 
> Anyways, apologies if these two new chapters seem like a filler, but it's important so don't forget to read between the lines ;))


	5. Massacre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suyeon meets up with her younger brother. The last surviving member of a massacred group pays the boys a visit.

_‘Another Mafia massacre occurred last night, bringing it to a total of four groups perished from our streets. A crime or a blessing? Netizens debate whether residents are walking amongst a criminal or a vigilante. The massacre took-’_

The television cable cuts off right as Suyeon settles down for dinner. She growls in annoyance, mentally cursing her provider for rejecting her request to extend her dues. Her eyes roam across the room. Used clothes, messy sheets and tossed papers of advertisements littered the ground so carelessly that Suyeon has to carefully navigate between the mess to find her phone. Grabbing it with the full intent of taking on the provider, Suyeon pauses when a string of missed calls blares at her across the screen.

* * *

Distant sirens and traffic noise resounded from the town beneath her. The air was breezy on the mountain overlooking their neighbourhood. As always, the comforting peace that the special spot had to offer washes over her with nostalgia. She fights the urge to smile as a hooded figure drops into the seat next to her with a bored sigh.

The damning silence had always been a task for Suyeon to overcome whenever they met. She bites her lip, “How are you?”

The younger boy next to her remains emotionless. “Fine.”

“How about school?”

“It’s okay.”

“Have you eaten-“

“Noona, do you have money?” The boy turns to her with urgency in his eyes.

“Yeah, but Subin-ah-“

“Great, can I have some?”

The words get caught in her throat as Suyeon looks at him with a flash of disbelief and hurt. _How could he be so impatient?_ She feels her chest tighten as she grabs his arm and draws back the sleeve, earning a startled cry from her younger brother. Suyeon feels her heart drop to the put of her stomach, seeing the needle pricks decorated his arm. Her body escalates in heat as Subin forcefully retreats his arm and pulling his sleeve back down.

“This is why I didn’t want to ask you!” The boy complains, hopping off his seat and running his hands through his hair.

“You told me you’re not using anymore. Is that why you’re asking for money?” Suyeon asks desperately, though afraid to hear his answer.

“It’s for school!!” He snaps, glaring at her. “These are old, noona! I knew you didn’t trust me.”

Suyeon feels a wave of guilt overcome her. She had always pestered her brother he to change his old habits. But deep down, did she _really_ believe he could? She was a _terrible_ sister. She rummages through her hands through her pockets amidst her teary vision. She hands his a handful of cash as he unclenches his jaw and grabs it, counting through them.

“This is all?” He questions just as she was about to apologise.

“That’s all I have. The part-time job I have at the store doesn’t pay well,” she bites her lips, dropping her gaze. “I’m doing my best for the both of us, but Subin-ah, if you could get a job-“

He laughs in disbelief before Suyeon could finish speaking. “What do you want me to do, noona? You want me to go to school or do you want me to find a job? Make up your mind!”

Suyeon fights the hot tears threatening to fall, though a slip of tear betrays her and rolls down her cheek. The aura radiating from her brother was always the pain she was willing to bear. She remains quiet as he shakes his head, turning to look at her. _“Thank you, noona,”_ his words laced with sarcasm and hatred.

It wasn’t until she was sure that her brother’s receding figure disappeared into the darkness did she let the tears fall without resistance. She buries her head in her hands, letting the sobs rip from her chest. Every sense of her body crumbles at the pain, just like every other time.

* * *

“Shit, Jongho, I’m on your left!”  
“Hyung, cover me. I’m going in.”  
“Yah, that’s not fair! How can we play teams?”  
“That’s your fault for being so bad, Mingi hyung.”  
“Shut up, Jongho.”

“You guys are being so dramatic. This is literally just MarioKart. What is wrong with you,” Yeosang complains, although being just as heavily invested in the game. 

After finding the playstation thrown on someone’s lawn on the way home from school, Jongho hadn’t thought twice about bringing it back. Knowing the gamer that Yunho was, the two were quick to hook the machine to their television while Mingi, praised Jongho for going to school in an affluent neighbourhood. _One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,_ he chanted repeatedly. Even Yeosang, who wasn't into games, was hooked onto their constant battle in Mariokart.

Hongjoong snickers at the scene as he leans into the table not far from them. Seonghwa, who’d been sitting at the table, watches him in deep concern. He couldn’t ignore the guilt that continued to plague him. The night Hongjoong came home after the fight that they had, he’d treated Seonghwa as if it never happened. When he apologised, Hongjoong did nothing but brush it off as if it wasn’t a big deal. Somehow, to Seonghwa, that felt even worse. 

“We’re back with ice-cream,” San announces, holding up the bags of ice-cream that he and Wooyoung ran down to the store to get. The members turn to look at them, excited for the dessert they’d been craving, but the noise drowns from their throats.

“Um, I think you guys brought more than just ice-cream, don’t you think?” Yunho says, eyes trailing to the man behind Wooyoung with his wrists bounded by a rope.

“Oh, yeah,” Wooyoung shoves the man to the ground in front of them. “He tried to attack us while we were walking to the store. Something about Chikwang gang?”

Jongho gets up from his spot on the couch, heading over to inspect the man for any weapons. He’d only begun to kneel down when the ropes unbind and fall to the ground. Without notice, the man brandishes a knife and charges towards him. Knocking him into the ground, Jongho struggles to fight the knife against his neck without the possibility of getting sliced. The moment that happened in a blink of an eye elicits a string of gasps from the other members, but Hongjoong was quick to move. He grabs the wrist holding the knife, pulling back without much of a struggle. Startled at the sheer force overpowering him, the man begins to lose feeling in his wrist, releasing the weapon his in hand.

“I think you’re misreading the situation at hand here,” Hongjoong hisses softly. “You wanna fight, use your fists. You wanna talk? Use your words.” He leans close, stopping a breaths away from the man’s ear, before he whispers, “I’d be _very_ careful if I were you.” 

The man is shoved backwards harshly as Yunho grabs the knife before he had any other ideas. Although obscured by locks of his bangs, the man could feel Hongjoong’s cold stare penetrating his soul as he breathes heavily, abandoning all thoughts of attacking. Something about those eyes that had him wishing he would disintegrate on the spot.

* * *

“The _entire_ mafia?” 

Dongchan nods, regretfully. After establishing that the man posed no threat to them, the members gathered around him on the couch to listen to what he had to say. “I’m sorry for attacking you guys,” he nods towards San and Wooyoung. “I thought you were the killers coming back to finish the job.” The two nod understandingly. The man had been on edge, not knowing the truth behind the deaths of his friends and beloved boss or that if his life was in danger. 

The members listen on intently to the events leading up to the massacre as Hongjoong watches the man from afar. From the table where he sat, he looks on for any signs of deceit whilst unconsciously shaving the red apple in his hand with a knife. He never trusted strangers, let alone the man who came attacking. This man had the drop on them once, he won’t let him get another chance. 

“Red Dragons,” banging a fist to the table, Seonghwa blurts out suddenly. The members looked to him, expecting an explanation. Even Dongchan was startled by the mention of the infamous name. “We know that they had plans to expand. What if this is _their_ move?”

“Shit, that’s true,” San pipes up, connecting the dots in his mind. “When I was infiltrating their base, like the brave soul I was, I overheard some of their men saying something about mass devastations? This could be it.”

Dongchan slams his fist to the table, burying his face in his other hand. The group is met with silence, taking in the possibility of a turf war. If that were true, then he stood no chance of revenge, let alone defend himself.

Wooyoung attempts to soothe the broken man as Seonghwa turns to look at Hongjoong, a side-eye look pressuring him to _do something_. He sighs after much contemplation, driving the knife deep into the table and earning the attention of everyone in the room. He hops off the table before unenthusiastically declaring, “Fine. We’ll look into it.”

* * *

As the members leave to see Dongchan out, Seonghwa stays back. He glances at the door behind him, deeply concerned for the man behind it. 

Hongjoong had always been burdened with the need to protect the group. Seonghwa understands that, which is why he tries so hard to help him. He was still gnawing at the guilt of leaving him when the group had split apart, unaware of how much it actually destroyed him. If he’d known what the future had planned for them after the split, he would’ve fought harder to keep the group together.

“Hyung, you alright?” Seonghwa breaks out of his stupor to meet San’s troubled look.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Ok, well, Wooyoung and I are gonna see if he can cook blindfolded,” he muses, patting his shoulder before heading off to the kitchen.

“Yeah, okay,” he replies thoughtlessly, watching San’s retreating back.

“Wait, what.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOYOYO
> 
> I wanted to update asap bcos a sis is excited heheh. 
> 
> What do y'all think of the story so far?? Do you like it?? Does it give you goosebumps?? Do you like Suyeon?? Honestly, even though I made up her character so the story can move forward but the characters write themselves y'know. 
> 
> Personally, WooSan are my favourite chaotic duo and I just love writing them.
> 
> Anyways, please leave comments and kudos!! It motivates me to write faster :p


	6. Where the Storm Looms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suyeon, Yunho and Mingi get an unwanted visit.
> 
> Seonghwa and Hongjoong talk.
> 
> Yeosang meets an familiar face.

Working at the convenience store seemed to pass by in a blur. Once she got used to the routine of working the register, cleaning the store and snacking on some goods before her boss could notice, Suyeon’s body worked on muscle memory. More often than not, her mind would unconsciously drift away. Soon enough, as she’s stacking the canned beans, she found herself thinking about the conversation she had with her younger brother. 

_“You don’t trust me now? Why, because I’m an addict?”_

She didn’t want to admit it. So God help her, she didn’t want to believe her brother was abusing drugs again. She didn’t want to have to find her brother’s body half-submerged in a bathtub with a needle deeply rooted to his arm. She never wants to see her brother so _lifeless_ again. 

Suyeon had merely begun to stand back up when a head pops up from the shelving aisle in front of her.

“Suyeon noona!”

She cries out before stumbling backwards into the shelf behind her, almost knocking some of the items off.

_“Oh shi-“_

_“Mingi I told you not to scare her.”_

As Suyeon finds her footing, she notices two pairs of feet who’d already rushed to her side by the time her heartbeat settles down once again, though she doesn't forget to smack the two before it did. The two whines and winced, rubbing at the spot she got them as she rolls her eyes.

“Why would you scare me like that. You knew what was coming if you did and you did it anyways,” she scolds as she rearranges the times she knocked off place while Yunho and Mingi exchanged looks, ready to pin the blame on each other.

“Well, you’re the scarier one,” Yunho replies, earning an eyebrow raise from the girl. Mingi, still rubbing his arm, continues, “Yeah, we’ve been watching you for ten minutes now and you’ve been spaced out the whole time.”

“You’ve been _watching_ me,” Suyeon restates, “for _ten minutes_. And I'm the scary one.“ The two shrug as she rubs her eyes. These two can be endearing as much as they are annoying. 

“Fine. I’m getting off in, like, fifteen minutes. You think you guys can hang around without giving other customers a cardiac arrest?”

“You got it, captain,” Yunho winks as Mingi suggests that he and Yunho try putting pizza in their ramyeon or something Suyeon wouldn’t bother entertaining anymore. She leaves the two to their own devices and gets back to work.

As she prepares to close the register, she feels heat building up and subconsciously looks towards the man walking in her way. The man smiles indignantly at her as he approaches. He greets her but she says nothing. He reaches for something below the counter and Suyeon gets ready for anything. A gun? A knife? He puts on the counter a bar of snickers. 

“How much?” Being warily cautious, Suyeon scans the bar for a dollar thirty-eight. She holds out her hand for the cash but the man reaches out to hold her hand instead. “No, I meant how much for you to come back with me?” 

Suyeon’s eyes widened as she tries to retreat her hand. 

“You’re something special aren’t you? Even my most skilled men wouldn’t have able to do what you did that day.” 

Suyeon begins racking her brain for a way out of this situation. She could scream for help, hoping Yunho and Mingi would still be here. But she didn’t know if the man had a gun and could open fire any time.

“We, the Red Dragons, pride ourselves on our sneak attacks. So, how did you do it? How come you were able to predict where we would be coming from?” The man leans closer, stopping right above her ear to whisper, “And why haven’t I found you sooner?” 

Suyeon feels the panic unfolding in her, yet too frozen to scream for help.

“Noona?” 

Suyeon breaks eye-contact with the man holding her against her will. Seeing the two boys managed to relief some of the panic threatening to overcome her as she watched their eyes land on the man in front of her, gaze turning icy. 

“Park Sungcheol,” Mingi growls as he drops the bag of chips he’d been clinging to to grab the man's wrist, releasing Suyeon's hand from his hold. “What the _hell_ are you doing here?” 

The man chuckles lightly as he backs away from her, though Mingi was quicker to shove him back. Yunho wasted no time in getting in front of her, unsure of what else the man had planned. Rubbing at the mark where Mingi yanked his wrist, Sungcheol’s cold laughter reverberates off his chest. Not once lifting his gaze off Suyeon, Sungcheol fixes a sinister smile that burns her to her bones. “I guess you’ll be seeing more of me, darling.” As the dark-hooded man turns to leave, Suyeon comes to her senses. She _hated the way_ she had let the man overpower her like that. She steps in front of Yunho and spits forcefully in his direction. “Like I’ll let you try.” Sungcheol pauses, rubbing at the wetness on the back of his neck. Instead of retaliating like she thought he would, the man simply smiles as he walks away and out of the store with hands in his pockets. 

It took a full minute of the three left to watch the space where Sungcheol was before Mingi breaks the silence. “Noona, you’re my new hero.” Suyeon looks up towards him, though his gaze still stuck on the ghost of Sungcheol’s presence. With that, Suyeon breaks into a soft laughter.

* * *

  
“You’re still working on that?”

Seonghwa looks up from the papers he’d been working on, his body tensing. Next to him, Hongjoong leans with his back against the table, biting into the apple in his hand as he scans the papers. The elder been worried about how the leader would feel about him building the case on the mafia massacre, seeing as the last time they touched on mafia movement, Hongjoong had left without acknowledging their fight and Seonghwa with the words he regrets saying.

“Yeah,” he replies, consciously hovering his arm over the papers to obscure Hongjoong’s vision from them. “That guy, Dongchan. If what he says is true, then we truly have something to worry about.”

“I don’t see how this is our problem, though,” Hongjoong replies cooly, rolling his eyes at the mention of the intruder's name.

“You don’t see how this is our _problem_?” Seonghwa feels the anger bubble within him. “Hongjoong-ah, some gung-ho mafia group is going around killing an _entire triad_ in one night. They leave the leader in some ritual circle of their own blood, dressing them like a trophy of their kill. These aren’t just mafia members. These people are _psychos_. I will _not_ let you become a victim of psychos.”

Hongjoong raises his eyebrows, blown away in shock. “Hyung,” he breaks into a smile, waving his eyebrows suggestively. “You’re worried about me?” He laughs, taking another bite of his apple and starts to walk away.

“Be serious, Hongjoong-ah,” Seonghwa snaps, rising to his feet to face his leader. 

“I _am_ serious,” he replies. When the silent tension threatens to settle between them, Hongjoong sighs, “Look, the way I see it, you’re right. These guys are dangerous. But they haven’t made a move on _us_. We’re barely a gang, let alone a mafia. They wouldn’t come for us. Besides, if we put our noses in this mess, it would only put us on _their_ radar. _That’s_ worse than picking a fight when there isn’t any to begin with.”

Seonghwa couldn’t fight the agitation gnawing under his skin. _How could he not see the seriousness of the situation?_ “Hongjoong, you don’t get it-“

“I _do_ get it, hyung,” Hongjoong snaps with a serious tone. This usually meant that whatever he said, no one was allowed to argue with him. “Which is why I’m asking you to stand down.”

The heavy tension blankets the atmosphere, with no signs of either of them backing down. The two mirrored each other, clenching their fists and giving each other cold stares. Just then, the door to the warehouse slides open, breaking the apprehension in the room.

“Oh, Jongho-ah, welcome back,” Seonghwa greets, breaking eye contact and retreating back his seat.

“Woah, Jongho, what happened to your eye?”

Seonghwa whips his head towards the boy, who had already slipped his schoolbag to the floor and was heading for the kitchen. True to Hongjoong’s words, Jongho had a blackened eye that burnt deeply into his pale skin.

“A fight,” he replies briefly, swinging the refrigerator door open and begins rummaging through it. The two hyungs exchanged surprised looks.

“What?” Seonghwa asks with Hongjoong simultaneously questioning, “How did the other guy look?”

“Worse,” he smiles.

“Good.”

“Hongjoong-ah,” Seonghwa warns, getting up to wet a cloth for Jongho’s wound.

“Hyungnim, have you gone grocery shopping yet? There’s nothing here but Hongjoong hyung’s apples.”

Tossing the wet rag in his direction, Seonghwa informs him that he hadn’t been able to but wouldn’t mind running to the shops right then. Anything to avoid facing Hongjoong.

“I’ll go with Jong-ie,” Yeosang pipes in, sticking his head out from the room next door. He enters the room and locks his arm over Jongho’s shoulder. “You two need to sort out your lovers quarrel. Come on, Jongho-ssi. The tension here is _unbearable_.“

The two leave the warehouse with Yeosang shuffling out cooly with Jongho around his arm. He’d been eavesdropping next door and couldn’t stand the argument they were having. The oldest members had always been a close pair, taking care of each other without any complaints. Having them argue with such intensity for almost a week now had become insufferable for him to watch. He could only hope the two are able to sort out what they need to.

Seonghwa mentally curses Yeosang for leaving him on an awkward note with Hongjoong. Besides making a mental note to mix his whites with pinks in the next wash, he does understand his efforts. He and Hongjoong needed to resolve their conflict, but he just didn’t know where to start.

“Hyung,” Hongjoong sighs, dropping his gaze to the ground. “Six years ago, when you all left me here, I thought I was gonna go crazy.”

The elder felt guilt sink in as the past memories resurfaced. Images of the leader's dishevelled state. His cheeks were hollowed in and the dark bags under his eyes suggested the sleepless nights he had alone.

“My mind was going crazy. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t function. I-I felt like when you all left, a part of me died.”

Seonghwa begins to soften at his leader’s words. Pain pricked to the tips of his fingernails. His heart dips into his chest when he remembers Hongjoong rushing to his side after _the accident._ How, even when Seonghwa was the one to leave, Hongjoong had come back for him.

Hongjoong lifts his gaze to meet his eyes. “Now that I get a second chance, I promise I’d _never_ let anything happen to you. To any of you. I’ll always protect you guys.”

The older boy bites his lip, beginning to understand where Hongjoong was coming from. He couldn’t fault the man for wanting to protect the only family he has. Seonghwa pulls him into a tight embrace in an attempt to piece together the broken boy.

Hongjoong returns his hug, relief spreading through his chest.

"I’ll always protect you guys _. I promise.”_

* * *

  
Yeosang tosses Jongho a cold, boiled egg to soothe the pain of his black eye as he settles in the seat next to him.

“I won’t ask, because I trust you to know what you’re doing,” he begins, searching his hand through a paper bag for his fried chicken leg. “But if I see anymore bruises on you, I’ll _personally_ beat you up.”

Jongho chuckles, “Hyung, I don’t think that’s how threats work.”

“Watch it. I heard today’s a good day for breaking legs.”

Jongho smiles, appreciating the concern his older brothers have for him. They continued to sit outside the supermarket in silence, watching the blur of the evening crowd scatter around them. Children held on their parents hands in a tight hold while they went in and out of the store, leisurely swinging back and forth carelessly. Seeing the smile on their faces as they are lifted off the ground and into the seat of the shopping carts, Jongho couldn’t help but melt at the sight.

It was a security blanket the boys had always envied. Being able to live without fear of for their lives was a pipe dream they’d never been able to experience. It had always been a fight for survival, having always to doubt strangers, constantly looking over their shoulders and making sure to be three steps ahead of any situation. Peace for them had to be constructed with calculated moves. 

“Dr Kang?” a mellow voice snaps the two from their thoughts. “You’re Dr Kang, aren’t you?’

 _Dr Kang? Yeosang-ie hyung?_ Jongho looks over the man next to him, who paled as if he’d just seen a ghost. 

“Stephanie?” Yeosang answers slowly. Judging by the way her lady cladded in work attire lit up, he guesses right, much to his dismay.

“You remember me? I’m glad-“

“What are you doing here.”

The lady gives a tight smile. Despite her professional look with her hair slicked back, handbag hanging on her arm and a proper posture that meant _no funny business_ , the lady had a friendly face that makes her come across as amiable.

“I was in town for a business meeting. It must be fate running into you here, like this!” She muses, extending her arms to express the unexpectedness of the situation. “Since we’ve met, I was hoping we could grab lunch and catch up sometime?”

Yeosang nods stiffly.

A short wave of relief washes over her face as thanks him, leaving him with her number and a very confused Jongho. Stillness settled between them, both unsure of the events that just happened.

“Um, so hyung,” Jongho mutters, breaking the silence. “I won’t ask, because I trust you to know what you’re doing.”

He earns himself a smack to the side of his head as Yeosang breaks away from his thoughts, eyes scanning over the number written on the paper in his hand. “You know I attended medical school in the time we were apart, right?”

Jongho nods.

“She’s the older sister of a patient I killed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The action is coming soon guys, I promise.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING FOR NEXT CHAPTER: PAST CHILD ABUSE & MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
> 
> PLEASE BE AWARE.


	7. Jongho's Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Dragons meet the Fedora man.
> 
> Jongho gets into trouble and reveals his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING:
> 
> BULLYING, PAST CHILD ABUSE & MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
> 
> PLEASE BE AWARE.

Being able to roam down the hallway freely was _not_ what Subin was expecting when he entered the Red Dragon’s base. He had imagined being sandwiched between muscled men as they shove him around to meet their leader. Yet, here he was, being insignificant to the eyes of the members as he walks down the hallway to the man many feared. Surprisingly, there weren’t even that many members in the building to begin with. Maybe it’s _because_ they were feared by many that they didn’t have the need to keep an eye on small fry like him.

He steps into a room guarded by two men, who not only let him through without hesitation, but _opened_ the door for him. He was starting to get chills from the treatment. Maybe he would’ve preferred being huddled. 

The room did not appear like any other room. Trophy cases stacked with cash lined the walls. The air musty with the smell of cigar smoke. Sitting behind a study desk was the man who had invited him there.

“Ah, Subin-ssi,” Sungcheol greets, legs crossed with his arms across his knees. “How’s my prized customer?”

Subin couldn’t help but stare at the man. The fiercest man in the neighbourhood had looked like he’d been used as a punching bag. His face was battered with dark bruises, teeth absent in different areas of his mouth. Judging by the stacks of cash that was still evident in the room, it was clear to him that the man was not attacked for his money. _Who raised hell against the Red Dragons?_

Sungcheol pulls out two thick bags from underneath the desk, gesturing him to check it out. Subin unzips the bags and felt his knees buckle. It was a fever dream. Both bags had blocks of heroin stacked on top of each other to the brim. He couldn’t stop the rising excitement bubbling in him as he reaches for a block, only to have his hand slapped away.

“Now, I’d like to make a preposition,” Sungcheol declares, zipping the bags up. “Your sister. Han Suyeon, is it?”

His eyes widens, not expecting to hear his sister’s name to come out from the leader of the worst mafia. At the mention of her name, he tenses, becoming more wary of the man in front of him. “What about her?”

“I think she’d make a real good addition to the Red Dragons, don’t you think?” He arches his eyebrow, egging him on. “Especially with that _power_ of hers.”

Subin clenches his fists, praying hard that it was enough to hold him back from throwing a punch. _How had he known about that?_ Despite the strong hatred he has for his sister, he was definitely not going to allow this man to come a hair’s breath closer to her.

He’s about to strongly object when the door behind him swings open with the man that had been guarding outside sent flying past him. There wasn’t enough time to process the situation when a man, cladded in a black coat, fires multiple shots at the guard. At the sound of the gunshots, Subin ducks below, desperately squeezing himself in between the trophy cases. 

The intruder slowly approaches Sungcheol and Subin is able to make out his features a little sharper, though not much. Hiding under a chained mask and a black fedora hat, the attacker commanded the room with his presence.

“Who the fu-“, a bullet pierces through the air, striking Sungcheol in the shoulder. Mustering the strength to bear the pain, he reaches for the gun under his desk, but his actions were too slow for the fedora man. The fedora man grabs Sungcheol by the neck, lifting him up as he gasps for air under his strong hold. Sungcheol’s face was beginning to turn blue when the assailant drove a dagger to his chest.

Subin chokes back his surprise. He watched as the life drains away from the leader. The chokes that escaped from the man prompts the fedora man to drive the dagger deeper into his chest. Unable to control his violent shakes of fear, Subin wills himself up but ends up knocking down some stacks of cash on the shelf. The fedora man whips his head around and, at the sight of him, drops Sungcheol’s lifeless body to the ground. Subin lands himself locking gazes with the man, whose eyes were void of emotion. A feeling of dread crept up from the pit of his stomach as his heart throbbed in his ears.

Not wanting to become a unfortunate victim of his killing, Subin makes a run for it. He staggers out of the room, feet flying down the hall way. He turns into the entrance hall but the sight of dead bodies cluttering the floor brings him to his knees. He couldn't believe his eyes as the cold rush overwhelms him. Hearing the clanking of boots, Subing jets off running again. His calves burned as he speeds through the darkness, hoping, _praying_ , that he’d slipped away from the fedora man.

* * *

Suyeon stares at the cheque in her hands. The three digit number nags at her, as if mocking all the efforts she’s been putting into her job. The pay would last her another two weeks at least. She sighs, pocketing the slip of paper when her eyes catch a glimpse of a familiar figure.

Jongho walks briskly past the convenience store, pulling the hoodie tighter over his head. Noticing that he was still dressed in his school uniform, he must’ve been coming back from school, though it puzzled her. Jongho’s school was located outside the neighbourhood and the convenience store was out of the way to the warehouse. _So, where was he going?_

Curious, Suyeon leaves the store, shadowing him just out of sight. Jongho seems to be agitated as she felt a growing heat at her fingertips, feeding into her curiosity. She was about to call after him when he turns a corner into an alleyway, where a group of males loitered the area. Swiftly, she ducks behind some trashcans as she watches over the situation.

“The bastard child actually came!” A tall boy taunts, walking over to Jongho, who stood unmoved amongst the boys circling him. Suyeon quickly realises that the males came from the same school as him, seeing as their uniforms shared the same logo. “Honestly, we didn’t think you’d show up.”

“Why? Getting cold feet already, Seongmo-ssi?” Jongho sneers unabashedly. “Don’t back out now. Finish what you started.”

“Couldn’t say the same for your parents, huh?” Jongho didn’t seem bothered by Seongmo’s remark. Instead, his eyes flashed boredom. Grinning, the boy nods provokingly, “Is that why those brothers of yours took you in?”

This stirs the demon in Jongho as he inches closer, clenching his fists. 

“Is it Wooyoung? His pansy ass wouldn’t let you starve in the streets? Or Yeosang? Couldn’t be a doctor so he might as well pick up some garbage on the way home?”

Seongmo’s gaslighting was making Jongho dangerously close to losing himself to the anger. His blood rushed to his ears, fists shaking violently as he storms closer to the boy.

“Must be nice for you. Trash living with trash.”

Jongho swings his fist forward, but Seongmo dodges it just in time for one of his lackeys to block his attack. The boy doesn’t hesitate to bring a foot to his stomach, forcing him falling backwards to the ground. Before he could stagger back on his feet, the other boys crowd him, throwing kicks with full force. Jongho had no choice but to shield his face from their barrage of attacks. He was beginning to see spots. 

“Here, I thought you _gang groups_ were tough. Your brothers must be _pathetic,_ seeing how they raised such a weak ass like you.”

Feeling a strong wave of adrenaline rush, Jongho grabs a foot and shoves back hard. The momentary shock allows him to lift himself of the ground and he wastes no time in attacking back. He skilfully dodges fists and throws some of his own. Without even a moment to breath, Jongho’s relentless assaults pushes the boys to their knees, bringing even Seongmo, unable the get up.

He straddles on top of him, his weight heavy enough to crush the skinny boy beneath him. Grabbing a fistful of his collar, Jongho strikes his face. Once. Twice. So many times that Seongmo’s face was beginning to become unrecognisable. He’s about to give a final blow when his arm gets pulled back roughly, forcing him off the bloodied child. 

“Jongho-ssi, hit him anymore and you’ll _really_ get into serious trouble,” the voice snaps Jongho out of the anger he was possessed in. Reading the concern in Suyeon’s eyes, he falls back onto his back, catching his breath. 

“Scums like you don’t deserve to live.”

Jongho immediately whips his body back up, not able to hold himself back from giving one more punch, but it seemed that Suyeon had already beaten him to it. Knocking the vermin out with her jab, Suyeon spits on him. “Just because he can’t hit you doesn’t mean I can’t, asshole.” 

Jongho doesn’t suppress the amused chuckle that escapes him. The boy who’d been boiling to the brim, now void of anger. Suyeon joins him laughing while wringing her wrist that winced in pain.

* * *

The door clicks closed behind her as she turns to the boy sitting on her couch. Jongho looks fatigued and devoid of emotions as he presses the cold bag of peas to his head. Suyeon throws her coat on a chair and takeaway food on the table before handing him a drink bottle from the fridge.

“You don’t have beer?” He tries, before earning a smack on the head with the bottle. “I tried.”

“You’re still underaged, you bozo,” she retorts, before _obviously_ opening a can of beer for herself in front of him.

Jongho sighs as he tosses the bag of peas to the table, leaning back into the couch. Suyeon leans forward towards him from her seat, eyeing his wounds. Despite their careless attacks, those boys didn’t land as many blows on him as she thought, although the purple bruise forming on his cheek would surely earn him an ass whoop from Yeosang. On the other hand, Jongho couldn’t imagine what his hyung would do if he saw the hideous marks that was starting to swell all over his body.

“I know you go to a school with rich assholes, but why were they picking on you?” Suyeon asks.

“Because I’m a child out of marriage,” He sighs exasperatedly without hesitation, staring exhaustedly at nothing. Seeing as the older woman listens intently, he continues, “My parents were still in high school when they had me. They couldn’t start a family at their age, so they left me at an orphanage.”

He takes a sip of his drink, recalling his constant move from one children’s home to another. “Society hates people like me, an illegitimate child. I was never adopted. No one ever looked at me.”

Suyeon’s heart yearned for him, yet, at the same time, it burnt with anger. It must’ve been hard for a child so young to experience, not only, such instability and loneliness but also growing up under the scornful eyes of adults. After a pause, the corners of Jongho's lips slowly begin to curl.

“But then I met the hyungs.” 

His eyes seemed to lit brighter, almost as if he had stars in them. His heart begins to swell with warmth, recalling the smiles they offered him in the sandpit that day.

_The basketball smashes into the sandcastle Jongho had been building, causing the entire structure to collapse. Shock convulsed in his veins as he watched it cave in._

_“Yah, little kid! Can you toss it over here?”_

_Slowly, he picks up the orange ball and turns around to see an older, taller kid running towards him. He stops a foot away from him, bending over to catch his breath. He mutters a quick “thank you” before extending his hand, waiting for him to pass the ball._

_Jongho’s lips begins to quiver as tears blurred his vision. His shoulders shook as sobs escape him. The older boy’s eyes widens in shock, not expecting the smaller kid’s reaction. Looking behind him, he noticed the lump of sand that bore a dent where the ball crashed and gasps. Slowly, he kneels in front of the crying boy and slowly wipes the tears from his eyes._

_“Hey, we’re really sorry,” he apologises softly. “We didn’t mean to destroy your castle.”_

_Although he couldn’t control the bullets of tears rolling down his cheeks, his heart almost leaped from his chest. He had never been held so affectionately like this. He stares into the older boy’s eyes that screamed a kindness he had never seen before._

_“We’ll make it up to you, okay?” He smiles, relief that the boy had stopped crying. “We’ll build you the biggest castle you’d ever seen. You’ll be able to look out of the window and eat the clouds!” He extends his arms, gesturing the largeness of the pretend castle, earning a giggle from the small boy._

_“Yah, Yunho-ah! What’s taking so long?” Another tall boy shouts as a group of six other boys approach the two. Yunho explains to them the situation as guilt crossed their faces. Simultaneously, the boys bend over in apology, agreeing with Yunho’s very imaginative promise. Seeing the smile on Jongho’s face, the rest ease in relief as they exchanged names._

_“Well, Jongho,” Yunho beams, tapping on the basketball in Jongho’s hands. “Do you want to play with us? We’re going to need someone who’s good with their hands. Mingi can’t shoot a hoop to save his life.”_

_“Yah!”_

Suyeon throws her head back in laughter, amused by the entertaining recollection of their first meeting. After composing herself, her eyes linger on the younger boy. Jongho glowed whenever he talks about his hyungs. It was endearing to watch him speak about them by the way he fidgets excitedly with his eyes conveying the love he has for them. 

The comfortable peace soon dissipates as Jongho drops his smile. “Even after leaving the orphanage, we were living so happily together. We snuck into an abandoned warehouse and made it into the home you know of today.” He pauses for a second, eyes falling to the ground beneath him. “But that was before I bumped into my dad. He insisted I come live with him, and if I didn’t, he would call the cops on us for trespassing. I couldn’t do that to the hyungs, so I left.”

He remembers the hurt on their faces as he told them that he was leaving. He hadn’t told them the whole truth, not wanting to instigate them to do anything that would get into trouble. Mingi hadn’t taken the news well, telling Jongho to stop messing with them as he prodded for the truth. He remembers the pain that exploded in his chest when he shoved Mingi against the wall. He remembers the disbelief that quickly flashed in the older boy’s eyes before he grabbed his bag and left.

Jongho lets out a humourless laugh. “I don’t understand my dad, though. He wanted me in his house, but he was _barely_ there. He was conglomerate. So, I guess he only wanted me there to hide the truth behind this illegitimate son of his.”

Heat began to prick her arms, but Suyeon held it in. She noticed the fire in Jongho’s eyes as he thought of his father. His words were laced with hatred as he recounts, “He didn't love me, that’s for sure. But his wife… Hah, she _hated_ me. She couldn’t stand the fact that a dirty child like me was living under the same roof as her.”

_The basketball he’d been dribbling escapes his hands, rolling outside the court. His friends stay back groaning as his runs after the ball. It hits against a pair of slim legs as the woman attached to them bends over to pick it up. The blood drains from Jongho’s face as he stops, realising who stood before him. His heavy breaths quicken as she smiles menacingly sweet, gesturing him over with her pointy fingers. He walks over to her slowly, consciously aware of every move he makes. Once they were within an arms reach of each other, the woman slams the ball dead on his head multiple times, causing him to fall over, curl up and clutch his head. He shouts in pain as she abandons the ball and kicks him with her pointed heels. She shouts a string of abhorrent words, each one digging a hole into his heart. When she was satisfied to see the boy crumpled in a mixture of blood and dirt, she spits on him. “Bastard child.”_

_The next day, Jongho comes home to a strong smell of gasoline lining all the way to the backyard swimming pool. Ashes fell from the sky like snow, decorating the ground and fuelling the anxiety in him. He rushes to the backyard, seeing a growing blaze in the empty pool. His step mum stood right in front of it, watching the blaze comfortably. He wastes no time in dropping to his knees at the edge of the pool next to her. His heart races as his eyes scans at the items being burnt. It was his belongings. All his belongings. He feels the last shred of his soul rip away from him as his eyes remain fixated on his orange basketball, burning relentlessly. “That’ll teach you to know your place, you bastard,” the lady cackles. Before she leaves, the wicked woman gives him a kick, causing him to lose balance and fall into the fiery pit, landing mere metres from fire. Scrambling like a mouse, Jongho climbs as fast as he could out of the pool, despite having lost sensation in his left leg._

An ominous silence sinks in the room. The heaviness of Jongho’s past towered over them like a dark cloud. Suyeon was unsure of what to say. She had never heard anything like that. Sure, her parents were crappy, but they didn’t come _close_ to the woman that terrorised him. 

Jongho clears his throat, taking large gulps of water as the bottle shook violently in his hand. He caps the bottle and takes a deep breath, his eyes closed as he comes back to his senses. “Those boys earlier,” he says, “they witnessed every exchange I had with her at school, so they figured out my history and that was when they started coming after me. Look, I couldn’t care less what they said about me.”

After a pause, he bites his lips, drawing the metallic taste of blood. “But they also know about the hyungs. People there talk, so they starting going after them too. That, I won’t stand for.”

Suyeon understands him. It crushes him to hear his beloved brothers being trampled over by morally-decrepited folks. The heat that had been pricking her arms suddenly disappears as Jongho sucks in a sharp breath.

“It’s my fault,” he chokes. “It if wasn’t for me, the hyungs wouldn’t be treated like this.”

“Jongho, stop.” Suyeon begins to feel the fire burn beneath her skin, but this time, it’s because _she’s_ mad. She stands abruptly, inching closer towards him.

“You are _not_ responsible for the actions of others. Being nasty is a choice, but being born into this world? That’s a _blessing_. All these people who mock your existence, what have _they_ done to prove their life was worth living? Jongho-ssi, it doesn’t matter how you come into the world, it’s what you do in this world that matters.”

Jongho is stunned into silence. The words fixes themselves to his heart, stopping him from crumbling apart. His hyungs had made it possible for him to come to terms with the past he'd grown up with, but Suyeon’s words made him feel like he belonged the whole time.

Relieved after getting the words out her chest, Suyeon makes her way to the kitchen to heat up their dinner in the microwave. Jongho had still been processing the words when Suyeon lets out a deep sigh.

“You remind me of my little brother,” she utters, earning his attention. “He’s always had a good heart, just very stupid when using it.”

She removes the plastic bowl from the microwave and settles it in front of them. “We didn’t have great parents either. Subin was the only family I could trust, so I knew I needed to protect him from them. But, by drawing him away from them, I didn’t realise how much it destroyed him.”

“The next thing I knew, I’m staring at his half-dead body drugged up in all kinds of substances.” The images don’t leave her mind as she continues, “I was crushed. He _never_ told me how much he was suffering. He was on the brink of death and I didn’t know about it. I almost lost him before I even got the _chance_ to help him.”

Jongho listens as Suyeon turns to meet his eyes, “Jongho-ssi, what I’m saying is, your hyungs deserve to know what’s going on. You don’t have to bear the burden alone. Give them a chance to help you. Relationships like yours don’t come very often, so treasure it by giving them that chance.”

Jongho smiles, feeling as though a weight of his problems had _finally_ been lifted off his chest. The air felt light and airy again, a comfortable peace returning to the room. Suyeon takes the lids of the plastic bowls, hot air steaming from the comfort food. “By the way, did you press criminal charges on your step mum? What she did was unforgivable.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” Jongho says, popping a dumpling into his mouth. “She’s dead anyways.”

Suyeon stops dead in her tracks.

“I came home from school one day and she wasn’t there. Two days later, police came knocking on my door, telling me she’d been found dead in a lake with a suicide note. After that, Hongjoong hyung came over a week later and brought me back here.”

“Hongjoong-ssi did?”

Jongho nods, pleasingly absorbed in stuffing food into his mouth. “Mmm, samgyetang?” His eyes lit up excitedly as he digs into the soupy broth. Suyeon smiles uneasily, a nagging feeling poking her as she watches the boy plummet through, yet, another one of her pay checks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a really heavy chapter to write. 
> 
> Abuse victims carry their trauma with them. Do not take abuse lightly. If you need help, please, let someone help you. Whether it be a friend or your local mental health carer, you don't have to carry this burden alone. 
> 
> There will always be someone who will understand you. You WILL get through this.


	8. Something Amiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seonghwa's worries continue to manifest in many ways as Suyeon reveals something distressing.
> 
> Yeosang is reminded of, not only his past, but his mistake too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update yikes. I've been busy catching up on work I'm supposed to prioritise, but I can't stop myself from writing, so here you goooo.

The suffocating smell of smoke clouded his lungs. Seonghwa brings a hand over his mouth, coughing as he struggles to inspect his surroundings. The fire that filled his lungs with the toxic smoke came from a hazy silhouette of a distant mountain. Seeing as he was surrounded by nothing but darkness, Seonghwa gravitated towards the only source of light. 

As he inches closer and closer, the figure of the mountain seemed grow, circling him with its blaze growing in intensity. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust, but when it does, Seonghwa's heart palpitates more rapidly. It wasn’t just any mountain, it was a mountain of _bodies_. Piles and piles of human carcasses obstructed his view as he spins around. Their eyes were all blown open, boring into his soul. His breath quickens as sweat began to glaze his skin. The fear was arching into his heart, forcing him to shut his eyes to block out the sight. 

When he does reopen them, the fire, the smoke, the bodies, they were all gone. Once again, he was surrounded by the abysmal darkness. He scans through the darkness when his eyes land on a mop of electric blue hair. He doesn’t hesitate to run towards him. “Hongjoong-ah!” He shouts, grabbing the shorter boy’s shoulder and spinning him around. The gasp that escapes him ripped the momentary relief as he jumps away from his leader.

Hongjoong’s eyes were _lifeless_. They were opaque, looking past him as if he wasn’t there. He doesn’t give Seonghwa time to process his state as he starts coughing, blood spilling from his mouth. With his eyes fluttering shut, the frail boy falls limp. Seonghwa reaches out as fast as he could, watching as his friend falls mere a hair’s breath from the ground when-

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Seonghwa shoots up from his seat, eyes snapping wide open. Cold sweat breaks against his skin as his heart bangs against his chest, threatening to break out. His eyes darted around the room in paranoia. The living room was void of people, only the presence of his papers strewn all over the floor and the board he'd had been working on, decorated with his messy writing. Heaving a sigh of relief, he realises that he was back in their home. It was only a nightmare. Yet, _the terror felt so real._

_BANG! BANG! BANG!_

The loud banging snaps him from his thoughts, dread seeping through his veins as he approaches it slowly. Reaching out for Wooyoung’s baseball bat that had been sitting next to the door, Seonghwa grabs the handle as he braces for an attack. Quickly sliding it open, a familiar face stumbles through, as if waiting to a shoulder jump to the door.

“Suyeon-ssi?”

Suyeon looks up to him, biting her lips and hoping he wouldn’t question why she was about to plough through the door with her whole body. “Seonghwa-ssi,” she stands up composing herself, when she notices the bat in his hand. “Is this a bad time? Were you heading out for a game or something? I can come back-“

He sighs, putting down the bat and headed back towards the desk. “Are you looking for the 99 liners?” He asks as he gathers his papers together, stacking them into neat piles in the middle of the table. “Did they invite you for games? I swear, they never let me join them but would let anyone else in a heartbeat-”

“Actually, I came here to see you,” she reports, grabbing his attention. “Park Sungcheol was killed recently. The Red Dragons are dead.”

* * *

The two sat at the table as Suyeon explains everything to him. Her younger brother had come pounding on her door doused in sweat and smelling of _death_. She relates to him every detail of the events that Subin told her. Between the heavy breathings and paranoia, Subin described each feature he remembered of the killer. 

“So, it’s been one killer this whole time? A man going around in a fedora?” Seonghwa asks, mildly amused at the thought.

“I came here to ask you about that. On the night we went to save Wooyoung-ssi, when you were on your mission,” Suyeon trails, eyebrows furrowing in confusion, “did you see anyone without a Red Dragon tattoo?”

He shakes his head as he recalls the memories of that night. Sure, he had to fight off a few members, but none without the notorious tattoo. “Why?”

“Well, who ever killed the Red Dragons was there that night with us, only, he was there to _kill_.” The seriousness in her tone drives him to grow concerned. He leans in, waiting for her to continue. Sighing, Suyeon continues, “Look, I never told any of you this, but someone there had an aura I’ve _never_ come across before.”

It was no secret that Suyeon could feel heat flame her body when a dangerous person was in her vicinity. All the members knew that. But, that night in the Red Dragons’ base, she had felt a different type of burn. One that knocked all her senses out, dropping her into a bottomless, cold pit inside of herself.

“It was only brief, but in that moment, it was like falling into a crack of an ice pond. My body was just… soaked in this cold abyss. I wasn’t burnt by fire. I was burnt by _ice_.”

“I’m guessing that’s worse?” He squeezes in. Suyeon nods as she thinks back to the sensations that froze her bones.

Seonghwa watches her with concern. Like always, she had a composed face whenever she’s approached with a problem. However, though her facial features didn’t speak her fear, her leg shaking restlessly did. She tries to hide the tremors in her hands by placing them under her, but her trembling arms give her away. She takes in a quick deep breath, looking away in an attempt to calm her nerves.

“Did you do that?” 

Seonghwa trails her line of sight, eyes landing on his make-shift investigation board. “Yeah, I’ve been keeping track of the massacres. You know, just in case.”

Suyeon gets up from her seat, approaching the board. For some reason, Seonghwa felt conscious of the board. No one aside from the members have seen his habit of detective-like work. He just feels more comfortable when he knows everything about anything. It helps him to feel in control when things seem out of control. However, he does realise that makes him seem come off as... _off-ish_. 

“Seonghwa-ssi,” Suyeon gasps, the urgency and _fear_ in her voice breaking him out of his thoughts. “These massacres seem to be connected to you. To all of you.”

She points to the pictures Seonghwa had pinned up of each murder site. “Hwangdo gang, 9th of May. That’s the night San almost bled out on my bedroom floor. Narae gang, on the 11th. The night we saved Wooyoung. I’m not sure about the Chikwang gang, but the other two can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

The images, words and numbers have been burnt over and over in his mind, but he had never seen that connection before. He runs his eyes over the information again as Suyeon adds on, “Each location is also less than _two_ blocks from here. For some reason, these murders seems to be drawn to-“

Suyeon chokes as a flash of coldness runs through her body. Her palms begin to sweat and her eyes dipped in fear as Seonghwa looks towards her in puzzlement. “Seonghwa-ssi… does Hongjoong have something to do with this?”

Seonghwa’s eyes widen in shock, surprised that she would even _suggest_ such a thing. Seeing the fierce disbelief in his look, Suyeon quickly informs, “Something has been nagging at me lately and you need to hear me out on this.”

She sits the both of them down, words jumble her mind as she finds the right way to form her sentences. It’s crucial that Seonghwa saw this, not as an attack on their close friend, but as a cause of worry that’s been eating her up since her talk with Jongho. 

“In your group’s time apart, Jongho told me that he had a _horrible_ experience with his family. After they _died,_ Hongjoong came up to get him within the next few days and brought him back here. Yunho too. He got into a fight with his brother right before he died and, within a week, Hongjoong finds him?”

The heat gnawing beneath the surface of her skin tells her that she was doing a _terrible_ job at relaying these thoughts to Seonghwa. He leans forward, his presence growing more threatening. “What are you insinuating? That Hongjoong is a good friend?”

“Doesn’t it bother you that whenever any of you faces some kind of calamity he just _suddenly_ shows up? Even with these cases. Every time either of you were in danger, the massacres happen.” Suyeon was _not_ treading the waters lightly. If she was going to uproot hell, she might as well bring the devil with her. “Did something happen on the night of the Chikwang gang murders? Anything happened to any of you? What about-“

Seonghwa slams a fist to the table. Heat rising in his chest as he struggles hard to keep his anger in check. Suyeon was coming to absurd conclusions based on baseless conclusions. He’d known Hongjoong for _years_. If she knew Hongjoong like he did, she would know that Hongjoong would _never_ -

“What about you, Seonghwa-ssi. Did something happen when he came to get you too?”

The memories of the past resurfaces in his mind against his will. Images of his girlfriend smiling next to him as he sat behind the wheel, headlights suddenly blinding his vision as he tried to swerve. The next thing he knew, he woke up to the overpowering smell of disinfectant, cables lining all the way up to his wrist, and Hongjoong in a seat next to his bed with his head buried into the blanket he'd been tucked under.

“ _Nothing_ like that,” he seethes, eyes turning cold at the sight of Suyeon. “Get out. _Now_.”

Suyeon bites her lower lip. Maybe she really did go overboard. She nods, her troubled eyes looking over to the man shaking in front of her. “I-I’m sorry. I-I… I-I’m sorry.”

Seonghwa says nothing, running his hands through his hair before burying his face in them. Distress was radiating off him, making her realise that maybe she’d done more harm than good. Suyeon turns and walks away, leaving a trail of uneasiness and regret in her step.

* * *

_Ding!_

Yeosang scoots a little outside the lower bunk of the bed, eyeing to see if Wooyoung had stirred awake to the sound. When he saw no motion coming from the upper bunk, he readjusts his head back to his pillow. A million scenarios play in his mind. There were so many things that could go wrong. He starts to question if this decision is the best he could come to.

_Ding!_

Stephanie, the woman he had met outside the supermarket when he was with Jongho, had been relentless in her onslaught of texts. _Dr. Kang, could we meet up over lunch some time? Dr. Kang, I’d like to thank you for caring for my late brother over some tea. Dr. Kang, we chould…_ He thought that if he agreed, she would leave him alone. However, it only seemed to fuel her excitement and double the speed of her texts.

_Ding!_

A flash of an outstretched hand swoops past him, grabbing the phone from his bed. The sudden rush of movement nearly makes him jump out of his skin as he leaps off his bed, panicking. The screen from his phone illuminates Wooyoung’s face as his eyes widen, reading the oncoming slew of texts.

“Yeosang-ah, who’s Stephanie?” He asks, a suggestive smile playing on his lips. He runs his hand through his hair, determined to get a clearer view of the texts. “And why are you meeting her tomorrow?”

Yeosang draws his lips in a tight line, creasing his face in annoyance as he grabs the phone out of Wooyoung’s hands. Wooyoung leans forward with his head in his hands, wiggling his eyebrows as he waits for an answer. The heaviness in his chest doesn’t go away as he reads through the texts himself. His eyes filter through the screen, yet his mind wanders back to the time he met her late brother for the first time.

He’d only been in his first year of residency then. His job was to shadow his mentor as he went on his business from day to day. Yet, a particularly loud eleven-year-old boy just wouldn’t leave him alone.

_“Uncle doctor! Who do you think is more handsome, me or BTS Jungkook?”_

_Yeosang meets the doe-eyed child, sitting upright on his bed with his eyes glued to the television screening of last night’s music show. He had been there to check on his vitals like he’d been told to, but the boy’s unwavering determination not to get his blood sampled proved a harder task than necessary. Only when Yeosang secretly promised to sneak him a can of coke did the boy readily outstretch his arm, impatient for the needle prick. “Why are you asking me that?”_

_“Yeah, true,” the boy shrugs, “that’s not fair to Jungkook ahjussi. I’m too handsome.”_

_Yeosang clicks his pen, closing the young patient’s file. **Kim Sunghoon, Leukemia. Status of chemotherapy: failed. Prognosis: Two months.** The words glare in his mind as he faces the small frame of the sick boy in front of him. He had wanted to become a doctor to save lives, but what could he do when the lives he wants to save are out of his hands? His heart felt heavy with guilt._

_“Uncle doctor, if I come out here alive, I’m going to be a Kpop idol,” the boy smiles, lights glittering in his eyes. “I mean, how else am I going to hang out with cool idols like them for free?” He points to the seven members charismatically dancing to their song on the screen._

_The smile on Yeosang’s lips didn’t match his eyes, but still, if he couldn’t remain positive for him, that what good is he as a doctor? He takes a seat next to the boy. “What do you mean ‘if’? You’ll get out of here-“_

_“I’m not stupid,” Sunghoon flatly remarks. “I know the chances of me leaving this place only comes with me in a coffin.”_

_The pain in his chest multiplies tenfold. The boy Yeosang had known since the start of his residency and the boy he was now was completely different. Before, he'd always stayed positive on the outlook of his disease. However, Yeosang blames the constant wheeling back and forth from operation theatre combined with the depressing decor of the hospital for siphoning off the innocence of the small boy. His face lowers in disappointment._

_“Uncle doctor,” Sunghoon pipes, grabbing his attention. “Can you promise me something? I know my sister would kill me if she knew I was asking you this, but you have to promise me you won’t tell her.”_

_Yeosang feels uneasiness creep into his veins._

_“If the situation ever comes to it, I want you to treat me as a DNR patient.”_

_His heart sank, watching the seriousness of his eyes boring into his soul. DNR meant ‘Do not resuscitate’. It meant that if Sunghoon was on the brink of death, Yeosang would have to let nature take its course. He couldn't believe Sunghoon had even picked that information up from other patients._

_“Sunghoon, you can’t make that decision,” Yeosang pleads, holding his hand tightly in his. “You’re not old enough to make that decision.”_

_“I’ve never made a single decision in my life! My sister decides everything,” he cries, exasperatedly. “Kind of ironic how my life isn’t even in my hands. Please, uncle doctor, let me have this one thing.”_

_Yeosang feels every bone in his body rejecting the idea. His heart strongly opposing the mere thought of it. But it was something about the boy’s eyes, someone who had only found pain in living, that possessed him to look over his records again. Yeosang felt an uneasy dread as he files the boy away to administration with the newly altered information._

“Yeosang-ah?”

Yeosang snaps out of his memories. Wooyoung observes the downcast look in his face, realising that there was something more beneath the surface. His eyebrows furrow in concern. “Yeosang-ah, you know you can tell me anything, right?”

The taller boy lets his shoulders sag. He hasn’t had a good nights sleep ever since Sunghoon died. He’d been carrying a shame he felt himself suffocating under, desperate for a way to release the guilt. 

“Stephanie wants to meet me because,” Yeosang mutters tiredly, “I-I think she’s going to kill me.”

* * *

The clouds drew in close, showering the earth in a glistening pour. The flash of lightning followed by the grumbling of the skies only amplifies the foreboding atmosphere in the room. It was too early for the other members to be awake, but far too late for Hongjoong to be coming back from work.

When he shuts the door behind him, he makes careful steps to the kitchen when the figure sitting in the living room couch jolts him out of his wits.

“Seonghwa hyung! What the hell,” Hongjoong sputters, clutching a hand to his heart. “What are you doing up still?” 

Seonghwa doesn’t move as Hongjoong moves to the kitchen for a snack after overcoming his initial shock. His mind had been detached from being present in the room, Suyeon’s words still ringing in his mind. He couldn’t believe her. He’d known Hongjoong since they were ten. It would’ve been impossible if he _didn’t_ know something about Hongjoong. How could it even be possible that his brother-like friend was keeping secrets from him?

“The Red Dragons have been wiped out,” he finally speaks out, eyeing Hongjoong from the corner of his eyes.

“Oh really? Thats great news isn’t it?”

Seonghwa whips his head with his mouth widened in shock, not believing the words that left his mouth. Hongjoong scoffs, rolling his eyes, “Hyung, why are you so shocked? They were on their last legs anyways. We really did a number on them, didn’t we?”

He grabs an apple from the fridge and plops down on the couch next to him. Whipping out his phone, he reads through texts on his screen nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just been told that the mafia group they’d been fighting with their lives against was just declared dead. Noticing the incredulous look Seonghwa was giving him, Hongjoong sighs, pocketing his phone. 

“Hyung, you’ve been paranoid about these guys taking us on for weeks,” he explains. “Now that they’re actually gone, you’re paranoid about them being _dead_?”

Seonghwa can’t stop the jitters from seizing his legs. His mind tries to refocus on the friend before him, but the words Suyeon planted into his mind blares like an alarm. He bites his inner cheek, mustering the courage to face his leader. “Hongjoong-ah, two years ago, how did you know I was in a car accident? And how did you know where to find me?”

The blue-haired boy stumbles back a little in surprise, taken aback at the out-of-context question that he'd been asked. Blinking the confusion from his face, Hongjoong replies, “I thought I told you, didn’t I? I overheard the call when I was working down at the station. When they mentioned your name, I rushed down as soon as I could.”

Hongkong wasn’t lying then. He’d told Seonghwa the story before. Remembering this, he felt a sense of relief wash over him. Hongjoong had told them before that he'd been working administration at the local police station when they split apart. So the chances of Hongjoong hearing the news of his accident through the police radio would’ve been likely. Despite the mafia’s reign over the neighbourhood, there wasn’t much police power in the force. There had only been the one local station back then and now. Any news from this neighbourhood would be fed to the station. 

Then, a moment of realisation hits him, the dread creeping back into his system. “Hongjoong-ah, is that how you found everyone? Like, _all of the others?”_

Hongjoong tilts his head in confusion. 

“Yeah, of course.”  
“You’re absolutely sure?”  
“A hundred percent.”

There was a pause between them. A stillness that burns right into Seonghwa’s chest. Suddenly, the moisture in his mouth dries as he feels a flash of cold shivers race through his body.

“Hyung, I think you’ve worked yourself to the bone,” Hongjoong pipes in, concerned at the sudden paleness of his skin. “Maybe you should get some rest. I’m gonna get showered, but you should go to bed.”

Seonghwa stiffly nods, offering a poor attempt at a smile as worry consumes the smaller boy. He decides to leave his hyung alone, thinking that maybe he needed some space. It _has_ been a rough couple of weeks for all of them, so he’d understand if Seonghwa needed a moment to himself.

Only when the figure of his friend had disappeared into the bathroom, Seonghwa wastes no time in whipping out his phone, dialling the only person he could think of then.

“Mmm…. Seonghwa-ssi?” The roughness of Suyeon’s voice on the other side of the line suggested that she’d only woken up just then. “If this is about our fight earlier, maybe I was going over-“

“He’s lying.”

“… Wha-”

“I asked him how he managed to track us all down and he told me that he found all of us through our local police station,” he whispers urgently. With jittery hands clutching the small device in his hold, he cautiously continues, leaving shivers spiralling down his spine.

“Back then, Jongho wasn’t in this neighbourhood.”

Seonghwa had been cautious relaying the information to her. He’d stuck the phone close to his mouth, whispering as quietly as he could into it. Under the small shade of light, Seonghwa’s worrisome features were surprisingly easy to distinct from afar. He’d been acting suspicious all night and Hongjoong was starting to get troubled by his distress. He vacuums in every detail of the boy. Droplets of sweat threaten to roll down the side of his hyung's head. His lips quiver as he spoke into the phone, eyebrows scrunching tightly to form angry folds on his forehead. The erratic trembling of his legs doesn't escape his attention either. 

With a distant look in his eyes, Hongjoong drops his gaze defeatedly as he carefully shuts the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE PLOT THICKENS.
> 
> To be honest, I had this chapter written earlier but I didnt want to post it until I was done with the next. I thought I needed to post it at the same time because it had that flow~ if you know what I mean.
> 
> Anyways, oof. Things start to take a turn from here my friends. We're getting deep into it now :P


	9. Unravelling Mysteries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seonghwa and Suyeon continue investigating Hongjoong, unprepared at what they've found.
> 
> Yeosang, with his unwavering members, faces Stephanie as he begins to realise a truth.

_“CODE BLUE. ROOM 201. CODE BLUE. ROOM 201.”_  
  
_Even in the dead of the night, the hallways of the hospital had been a beeline of nurses and doctors, rushing to do their jobs. In any other situation, men and women in white coats took turns in shifts, visiting each of their patients. But this was different. This was code blue._

_“We need a crash cart in Room 201! Patient flatlining!”_

_Yeosang felt the panic rise in his chest. Sunghoon occupied Room 201, he thought. Hearing the repeated announcement through the PA system, he makes a dash down the familiar hallway, shoving passing nurses out of his way as he did. It couldn’t be true. Sunghoon still had more time left to live, he’d been so sure of it. He makes his way through the sea of medical teams, only to be stopped outside of the room. Since he’d still only been a first year resident, this wasn’t his problem to fix. Yet, there was no way anyone could pry him away from the door._

_“BP is dropping. We’re losing him! We need a defibrillator, now!” The nurses loses no time in grabbing the machine, spilling gel into the pads as the doctor rubs them together, ready to restart the little boy’s heart._

_“Doctor, wait! He’s a DNR patient!” The doctor holding the pads stops dead in his tracks. He whips his head in disbelief, taking a quick look over the boy’s documents handed to him. He grits his teeth, slamming the pads back onto the machine. The chaotic situation in the room suddenly drops into a painful silence, only the rapid beeping and violent jitter of the bed ringing throbbingly in their ears._

_Beeeeeeep-_

_Everything then seemed to blur in slow motion, sounds growing static to his ears. All except for the incessant beep of the flatline. A sharp pain penetrates straight through his chest at the sight of the boy who’d had the last signs of life leave his fingertips. The air felt thin with the only thing he could breathe in, was the memory of the young boy who had had his life taken too soon. He slides down the frame of the door as the nurses veiled the boy with his sheet. Another nurse approaches him, mumbling words he couldn’t hear. His eyes blurs, fighting the reality beyond him._

“-sang-ah,” the whiny voice snaps him out of the recesses of his memories. “This is a really weird place to meet someone you haven’t seen in ages.”

He twists his head slightly, the shorter boy coming into his view. “Wooyoung-ah,” he alludes, “I get why you’re coming with me, but what is San doing here?”

Of course, the lankier friend of his pops from behind Wooyoung, looking offended by Yeosang’s question. “UH, because we come in a pair?”

“Amicus!” “Ad!” “Aras!”  
“Idiots.”  
“Alright, stay jealous. We’re here because we’re bored and kicking some ass sounds good enough for us. ”

Yeosang rolls his eyes, though he knew the two had been itching for action after one being out of commission and the other being the subject of the “Save Wooyoung” agenda. Besides, Yeosang wasn’t an experienced fighter like the two. His hands were made for healing, not hurting. If it came down to it, he would surely need all the help he can get from his members. 

They’d been walking down an empty railroad leading to a tunnel that had been unused in ages. The area was generally a quiet space and if you weren’t looking for it, you would have missed a secluded location such as this. So, setting this place as their meeting point had only confirmed his suspicions. _Revenge was her game all along._

When the frame of the tunnel comes into view, the three stop in their tracks as a particular blonde-headed woman steps out from it. “Dr. Kang! You made it! I wasn’t expecting an entourage.”

Remaining composed, Yeosang looks up at her. The smug look on her face suggested that she thought she’d managed to catch him off guard with her ill-intentions. Despite being an excellent finance in her field, Stephanie, Yeosang concluded, was a clear amateur at revenge plots. 

“Honestly, me neither,” he replies cooly, earning a little smack from the two behind him. “But I’m not the only who did, am I?”

True to his words, a group of men step out of the darkness of the tunnel, circling them. He’d known from the start. After his talk with Wooyoung last night, he decided he’d wasted too much time replaying the shame and guilt he felt all those years ago and chose to focus on the present. Starting with sorting out this revenge plot of hers.

* * *

Seonghwa had always thought that the local police station would be a hive of activity, considering the fluctuating amount of crime that happens in the neighbourhood. Yet, he hadn’t seen much of anyone coming in or out of the tiny building. There had been only one scooter with the logo of the force on it’s storage box in the empty carpark. With a neighbourhood that sees more bodies than the morgue, you’d think the police would be doing their job tirelessly.

He decides that he didn’t care about police business. He had problems of his own anyways. After his call with Suyeon last night, the two agreed to investigate Hongjoong’s connection to the massacres and decided to start with his workplace, the local police station. Seonghwa had dressed himself in the most convincing professional attire he had like Suyeon told him to. He fixes a tie to his white, pressed shirt, with a matching black suit and pants to pair that he got when the 99 liners were graduating from school. He’s cautious not to damage it, saving it for Jongho’s graduation later in the year.

Suyeon joins him in front of the glass doors, herself cladded in a work blouse and pants. She greets him, smiles and opens the door for the gentleman. Once inside, it was almost laughable how the situation in the station was as compared to what they had originally imagined. Empty pizza boxes crowded the entrance as beer cans littered the table A man in sweatpants and a casual tee barely greets them as he continues sleeping in his reclined chair. 

Incredulous by the condition of station, Suyeon huffs in annoyance, crossing her arms as she kicks the man’s chair forcefully. The officer snorts, stumbling in his seat as he tries to regain his balance. He eyes the two in front of him, irritated by their unwelcoming presence. He crosses his arms, leaning back into his seat. “What’s your problem, woman. Why are you here?”

Sneering, she leans as closely to his face as she can, smelling the stench of alcohol from his breath. “You pigs make me sick. People are dying on those streets and you’re here _hungover?_ Don’t you have some _pride_ , officer?” The officer leans in closer to her with a menacing look in his eyes. Seonghwa, who’d been frozen shock at her outburst, takes this as his cue to step in. 

“Hi, I am Detective Park and this is Detective Han,” he greets shyly, pulling his ‘partner’ away before she started a fight. “We’re here to ask you some questions about one of your staff, Kim Hongjoong?” 

“Kim Hongjoong?” He repeats, confusion lacing his eyebrows. 

“Yeah, Kim Hongjoong. He works as one of your administrators?” 

The man shakes his head before groaning, rubbing his temples at the sudden motion. “What are you talking about. We don’t even _have_ an administration.”

The two exchanged looks, dumbstruck at the officer’s statement. There was simply no way. Seonghwa was sure Hongjoong worked administration in this station. He’d seen him come in and out a few times. Hongjoong would even complain to him about work at home sometimes. “A-Are you sure? Kim Hongjoong? He’s about five foot six. Pretty small.” 

“I’m sorry, Detective, you’re wrong. This station only has two - _pigs_ ,“ he scorns briefly at Suyeon who’d only rolled her eyes, “It’s only me and my partner-“

“Kim Hongjoong?”

The three swivel their heads to a figure from the back door, a 40-year-old man in uniform with a coffee cup in his hand. The officer approaches them with an uncertain look in his eyes. “You guys are looking for Kim Hongjoong?”

* * *

The tension thickens as the men circling the three members take calculative steps forward, caving them in. Holding bats and clenching their fists, they knew they were on the brink of a battle.

“Stephanie, this fight is between you and me,” Yeosang yells at the woman standing on the tunnel’s platform. “Leave those two out of this.” He wasn’t entirely reliant on his fighting skills, but the air was thick with menace that he’d rather take the brunt of the all their kicks than let his members get _seriously_ injured.

“Yeosang-ah, don’t be stupid,” Wooyoung groans, already getting into a fighting stance. “As if you can take them all on your own. We’ve seen you fight _and lose_ to a child in a _thumb war_. San and I can take these small fry. You don’t even have to move a muscle.”

“Yeah, sang-ah,” San clicks, giving him a thumbs up. “Besides, we’re brothers. We’re not going to leave you behind.”

Yeosang tries to hide the smile playing on his lips. Their presence in his life gives him a comfort he can’t explain. He’s glad that, even with his flaws and after what he’s done, there are people like his members who still accepted him as he was.

“Actually, I’m glad your _'brothers’_ are here,” Stephanie flares, gritting her teeth. “You took away my brother, now I get to take away yours.”

Seeing as this was his time to step up, he approaches her slowly. “Stephanie,” he calls, ready to relieve himself of the guilt he’d been carrying all these years. “I’m really sorry that your brother died. He was too young and he didn’t deserve to have his life taken away so soon.”

An image of an innocent smile flashes through his mind. Memories of the two bonding over the cans of cola Yeosang would sneak in, laughing over comedy gag shows and Sunghoon teaching him some dances he studied from idol groups when his body was willing to move, fill up his mind. Stephanie’s little brother was certainly a character in his life he wasn’t willing to forget. But Yeosang also remembered his dark nights, too. The nights he would wake up screaming after a round of chemotherapy, his eyes burning as he threw up into the trash can he had to cling onto, the hopeless sobs escaping him as Yeosang stroked his head to sleep.

He struggles to remain his composure as he faces the sister of his close friend. “But death was _his_ choice. He deserved peace after all the pain he experienced. He died _peacefully_ , Stephanie. He died in his sleep and I’m done blaming myself for his death.”

For years, Yeosang had been replaying the scenario over and over in his head, wondering if he had made the right choice. His doubts only amplified when the hospital directors had learnt of what he'd done and fired him immediately, leaving him to think if he really did what was right. He wanted to believe it. He wanted to be sure that Sunghoon is happier wherever he is now. He’d been desperate for some reassurance after doubting himself for so long.

_“Uncle doctor, you don't have to worry. I’m not afraid of dying anymore,” Sunghoon grins, handing him a flower that came with his breakfast that morning. “I believe that God takes precious people because, in a garden full of flowers, you’d pick the prettiest ones.”_

The words suddenly pop into his memory, granting him a fleeting moment of reprieve. Suddenly, he felt at peace. All these years, Yeosang had layered Sunghoon’s words with guilt. He never knew to believe the boy, until now. 

“That's NOT your decision to make,” Stephanie growls, bring his attention back to the situation at hand. “Boys, kill him.”

* * *

Dropping a stack of files on the countertop, dust bunnies bounced from the pile. Earlier, the officer in uniform apologises for his partner’s behaviour and promised to cooperate with the two detectives. He had take out files from a records room that hadn’t been stepped into for years, gathering any related files that rang a bell to him.

“When I heard the two of you mention his name,” he begins, flipping through the dusty files, “I knew it felt familiar.” He stops flipping on a page with picture of a man all too familiar to the two. “Kim Hongjoong. He was arrested for attempted arson at an abandoned warehouse a few years ago. We brought him in for statements when a call about a car crash came in. Turned our backs on him for _one second_ and he was _gone_. You two got any idea where he is?“

The blood drains from Seonghwa’s face as the officer speaks. Every piece of information drowning in his mind. Cold sweat threaten to roll down his temples with every new revelation unveiled. It was impossible. He’d known Hongjoong since they were still kids at the orphanage. His friend had always been an innocent soul in his eyes, with a smile that brightened up any of his gloomy days. Though he's been close with all the members, his connection with Hongjoong had been the closest. As the other members looked up to him as their eldest hyung, Hongjoong had always been the one _he_ could rely on on an equal footing. Yet, with every new piece of truth, the image of his beloved friend continues to shatter. He didn’t want to think of his friend as a possible accomplice to _murder_ , but he didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Sensing the state of disbelief Seonghwa was in, Suyeon continues, “You said he attempted arson at a warehouse? Where was it?” The officer scans through the document, eyes landing on the information. “Here. 23A Gongsil-Nam.”

Seonghwa blinks, grabbing the file from the officer’s hand. “That’s not the address of our warehouse.” Understanding the refocused look in his eyes, Suyeon whips out her phone to locate the address. “23A Gongsil-Nam. That’s not far from here.”

The two waste no time in heading for the door, thanking the officer on their way out. Suyeon wasn’t so sure if Seonghwa was ready to face the truth about his friend, but the determination in his steps tells her that they’re too deep into the case to give up now.

* * *

 _BAM_.

Yeosang feels the wind knock out of him as he crashes against the wall. He struggles against the strong hold the burly man in front of him has him in, battling the intense pain in his arms. Gritting his teeth, he brings a knee to the man’s groin, forcing him back and delivering a kick that knocks him down. His lungs burned from being overworked as he scans the area. 

The men Stephanie brought with her were proving to be more hassle than they thought. They had no problem knocking them to the ground. The problem is that they kept _getting back up._ Even the other two fighter-members, struggle holding the men down. His vision was a mess of men, striking their arms at his two friends while he avoids the punches coming his way. He’s barely able to strike a blow when he sees San being rammed into the ground, a dagger pointed straight to his chest.

“San-ah!” Before he could do anything, another man charges at him, knocking him against the wall.

With all his strength, San tries to drive the dagger away from him. The muscles in his arms burn as he finds himself in a losing battle. His attacker smirks, putting in more strength into his attack as the dagger mere inches from his chest.

Suddenly, the dagger gets kicked out of the way as the man falls back, wincing at the pain in his hand. San looks up at his saviour, his face lighting up.

“Hyung-nim!” San’s outcry turned heads as the chaos comes to a still for a moment. Yeosang and Wooyoung, shocked but relieved at the sight of their leader, felt a new found strength possess them just from his presence.

Hongjoong returns San’s smile, giving him a wink before facing the man with the dagger. The attacker rolls to his side, attempting to get up, when Hongjoong nicks him in the face, knocking him out in an instant. Another man tries to swing at him but he swiftly dodges, bringing a knee to his face. The enemies begin to falter, startled at the overpowering presence of the new addition.

Wooyoung delivers a powerful blow to a charging man, grinning wide from the sight of their fierce leader, “Y’all are _dead_ now.”

* * *

The metal frame of the door creaks loudly in the vast hall. Chills run down their spine as they enter the warehouse, painfully aware of the cold gust running against their skin. The sun rays emitting into the room brought light to the musky dustiness of the air that Seonghwa wasn’t sure he should be breathing in.

“Whoa… Isn’t this..?” Suyeon trails, eyes scanning the room.

The warehouse was eerily similar to theirs. In fact, the furniture decorated around the room were placed in the _same_ layout as their house. Though the furniture weren’t completely the same, there was a table that sat in a corner just like in their warehouse. There was also a tv placed near the middle, _just like theirs_. This warehouse was a _mirror image_ of their place.

While Suyeon continues marvelling at the uncanny differences, Seonghwa faces a board veiled with a dark cloth near the centre of the room. He drags a finger over the cloth, heart pounding out of his chest. His heavy breaths bounces off the board as he grabs a fistful of the cloth, giving a hard tug to drop the cloth to the floor. 

The colour drains from his face as dread twisted his gut. He felt robbed of his sensations as the shock paralyses him. Curious at his silence, Suyeon turns to his direction and a loud gasp rips from her. He wants to believe this is a dream, but the evidence in front of him doesn’t lie. 

The board was decorated with the faces of the seven members, save for their leader. There were pictures of Yunho with his brother, Yeosang in a hospital, San in a moving van, Wooyoung in an illegal underground district, Mingi with a man tattooed with the Red Dragons symbol, Seonghwa with his girlfriend and Jongho with his step mum. All taken from an obscure location well hidden from the eyes of the members. Yet, it wasn’t the unsettling photos of the members, or the messy scribbling of words, but the thick, red marks crossing out the people that surrounded them in the photos. 

Seonghwa’s eyes land on the picture of him and his girlfriend, a sickening fear overwhelming him. It was a picture of them in a cafe from the last date they had before the accident. He didn’t have the chance to question himself just how exactly Hongjoong had been there because the words branching from the photo burnt a hole through his eyes. _“Cho Eunsu - girlfriend. Possessive._

Seonghwa hadn’t breathed a word since they got there, but the frozen state he was in was starting to concern Suyeon. She notices the photo he’d been transfixed on and plucks it off the board, stirring a reaction from him. Blinking the tears that threatened to form, Seonghwa swallows excessively, making quick steps to the door out of the suffocating warehouse.

Suyeon stares at the photo in her hand, then darted her eyes across the board. The board was a mess of red scribbles and eerily disturbing photos of, what she concluded, the members during their time spent apart. If this was truly his doing, then what did this meant? 

Her mind suddenly flashes to the memory of her conversation with Hongjoong after their rescue mission for Wooyoung.

 _“After he left, the group began to split apart. Everyone began to find their own paths and one by one, they all left. It was the hardest four years I’d ever had.”_  
  
Her breathing quickens as her eyes go wide.

_“But everyone’s back now and that’s all it matters. And this time, I know everyone’s here to stay. I’ll make sure of it.”_

When the realisation struck her, she freezes, fear suddenly becoming a tangible force that threatened to consume her. She gulps, fearing for the members as she makes the connection.

_Hongjoong is obsessed with them._

* * *

With one final, powerful blow, the last man standing falls to the ground, merely inches away from his blood-soaked sneakers. Hongjoong watches the motionless man, his chest rising pompously as blood slipped through his fingers. He smirks, overwhelmed with the pride that he managed to take the brawny man down despite their size difference.

Yeosang bends over, catching his breath after finally succeeding in defeating his attackers. Although his lungs were burning, he was swelling with pride by the fact that he’d managed to take on the attackers coming his way. Maybe due to the advantage of him being a doctor is that he really knew where to _hit them where it hurts_. He scans the others, a smile breaking on his face as he sees his San, not far from him, giving him a thumbs up as he catches his breath, and Wooyoung, who laid flat on the floor with the rising of his chest suggesting he was alive and quite frankly _done_ with the situation. He’s about to call over his members when the flash of a figure dashes pass them, putting a growing distance between them.

“Stephanie!”

Without a moment to waste, Hongjoong turns on his heels, charging towards her with the other three not far behind. Although she seemed like a fast runner, she had been no match for Hongjoong who’s proven to be quick on his feet. Not long after the start of their chase, he tackles the woman in front of her, pinning her to the ground with his weight. 

It was loud in his mind. Images of her stalkish behaviour around Yeosang ever since her arrival into the neighbourhood flashes through his brain. She’d been there watching through the window when Yeosang gathered with the other members at home for dinner. She’d been there when he left the warehouse to take out the trash. She’d been there when he was at the pharmacy to stock up on their medical supplies. She’d been watching Yeosang like a hawk and Hongjoong has had enough of it. Grabbing a fistful of her collar, he pulls his arm back into a fist, ready to strike her with strong punch, when he feels a tight grasp prevent his movement. 

Yeosang grabs his hyung’s recoiling hand right before he could strike one on her. Although Stephanie been a pain to deal with, Yeosang didn’t want to hurt her. She was right to be mad at him. She had lost her brother because of an uninformed decision _he_ had made. If he was in her shoes, he’d be just as furious and unforgiving too. If not, more. He sighs, “Hyung, it’s okay. Let her go.”

Hongjoong whips his head up at him, eyes dilated like a hunting tiger. The sheer menace in his eyes drives Yeosang to let him go, like as if fire burnt his skin, as he feels an icy shiver surge down his spine. He’d never seen that look on his hyung before and something nags at him that he wouldn't want to see it again. Stephanie takes this chance to struggle away, scrambling desperately to her feet and scampering down the railroad away from them.

“Are you okay?” Trailing his gaze from the bolting woman to his hyung, Yeosang startles a little by the way his eyes softened, returning to the concerned ones he’d been so used to. Maybe it was the way blood stained his hair and face like an artistic canvas that made him look mad enough to kill before, he thinks to himself.

“Hyung-nim!” San cheers, him and Wooyoung casually walking up to them. “How did you know we were here?”

Yeosang glances at their leader, truthfully curious of his answer. He’d been so sure not to tell the others, besides Wooyoung who found out and then, of course, told San. He didn’t want to trouble them with something so trivial. Hongjoong dusts the dirt of his pants, the blood staining them already drying. “You two aren’t exactly the best at keeping secrets.”

The blonde shifts his twitching gaze to the two boys behind him, both looking away, finding much more interest in a flock of migrating birds in the sky.

* * *

When she joins him outside, Seonghwa had her back turned to her, leaning on the railings overlooking the empty streets. The stones they’ve been turning since the start of the day had been shocking Suyeon to the core. The fog of fear around the certain member thickening in her mind, sending icy chills down her spine at the thought of him. She could only imagine the mental breakdown Seonghwa must be going through.

“You okay?” Seonghwa glances briefly at her presence. He nods, clasping his hands together. The breath of fresh air had been kind to him, the purifying oxygen helping to clear his mind and gather his thoughts. He had tried to make sense of everything they’ve found out so far. It’d be a lie to say that he has.

“Hongjoong-ie never mixed well with the other kids in the orphanage,” he asserts after a long silence. “He didn’t talk much or played like the other kids did. So, they excluded him in everything. The only time they _did_ approach him was to beat him up for acting so weird. Yet, he never fought back. He never did _anything."_

His heart aches, recalling the dark bruises scattered all over the tiny boy’s small frame as they passed each other in the hallways of the orphanage. Despite the obvious pain radiating from his wounds, not a single cry or tear would escape the ten-year-old boy. Instead, he remained emotionless without a blink of response. Though his unresponsiveness is what outcasted him from the rest, for some reason, Seonghwa hated seeing the boy alone.

_The sandpit had been a popular site for the kids, always cramped with snooty children fighting for a spot in the sand. That day hadn’t been any different, but Seonghwa filters through the sea of children, eyes looking out for only one boy in particular. He cheers to himself when he spots him._

_The tiny boy was squatting close to the ground, drawing circles into the dirt with an oddly misshapen twig. Seonghwa thought that the boy must’ve had his mind in a distant trance, desolated from his senses, because he hadn’t noticed his presence in front of him. Only when he shoves the fruit in his hand right under his eyes did the boy seemed to return to his senses. Tilting his head upwards, Seonghwa’s eyes met the boy's soulless ones._

_Seonghwa smiles, eyes bright as he places the crimson apple in his hand after dusting the dirt off. “Did you know that apples have superpowers? They have the power to protect you from doctors. I don’t like doctors because they’re scary, so I eat them everyday. Maybe they’ll protect you from bullies too.”_

_The boy doesn’t respond, but the change in his gaze tells him that Seonghwa had had his attention. He brings the apple closer to the boys lips, who cautiously crunches into a small part of the fruit. Feeling a sense of victory spreading down to his toes, Seonghwa squats in front of him, petting his head softly as he continues to take more bites into the apple._

_The boy seemed mesmerised with his actions, unsure of what he was doing but didn’t seem to reject it either. He takes this as a chance to introduce himself. With an outstretched hand, he grins, “My name is Park Seonghwa. What is yours?”_

_The boy stares at his open hand, contemplating for a while as Seonghwa waits in anticipation. He’d been waiting for this moment for a while, and now it was up to the boy to decide the fate of their possible friendship. He feels his heart soar as the warmth of the boy’s smaller hand envelope his._

_“K-Kim Hongj-joong.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW.
> 
> The story continues to unfold my friends. How are you all feeling about this? It's only action and plot twists from here. The question is, are you ready for it?
> 
> Just a little side note, the next update might take a while only because I'm behind on my assignments. Whoops :p I appreciate your patience :)))
> 
> Also, thank you for reading my story so far! This story has been playing like a K-drama in my head and I hope I don't disappoint you. Thank you for bookmarking and the kudos as well! You can't believe the happiness I feel every time the number of hits increases :)) you all make me so happy.
> 
> Have a good day!! And be ready for the next chapter!! Hint: everything's not what it seems...


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